Scientists have hypothesized since the 1960s that the Sun is a source of ingredients that form water on the Moon. When a stream of charged particles known as the solar wind smashes into the lunar surface, the idea goes, it triggers a chemical reaction that could make water molecules. Now, in the most realistic lab simulation of this process yet, NASA-led researchers have confirmed this prediction. The finding, researchers wrote in a March 17 paper in JGR Planets, has implications for NASA’s Artemis astronaut operations at the Moon’s South Pole. A critical resource for exploration, much of the water on the Moon is thought to be frozen in permanently shadowed regions at the poles. “The exciting thing here is that with only lunar soil and a basic ingredient from the Sun, which is always spitting out hydrogen, there’s a possibility of creating water,” Li Hsia Yeo, a research scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. “That’s incredible to think about,” said Yeo, who led the study. Solar wind flows constantly from the Sun. It’s made largely of protons, which are nuclei of hydrogen atoms that have lost their electrons. Traveling at more than one million miles per hour, the solar wind bathes the entire solar system. We see evidence of it on Earth when it lights up our sky in auroral light shows.
Most of the solar particles don’t reach the surface of Earth because our planet has a magnetic shield and an atmosphere to deflect them. But the Moon has no such protection. As computer models and lab experiments have shown, when protons smash into the Moon’s surface, which is made of a dusty and rocky material called regolith, they collide with electrons and recombine to form hydrogen atoms. Then, the hydrogen atoms can migrate through the lunar surface and bond with the abundant oxygen atoms already present in minerals like silica to form hydroxyl (OH) molecules, a component of water, and water (H2O) molecules themselves. Scientists have found evidence of both hydroxyl and water molecules in the Moon’s upper surface, just a few millimeters deep. These molecules leave behind a kind of chemical fingerprint — a noticeable dip in a wavy line on a graph that shows how light interacts with the regolith. With the current tools available, though, it is difficult to tell the difference between hydroxyl and water, so scientists use the term “water” to refer to either one or a mix of both molecules. Many researchers think the solar wind is the main reason the molecules are there, though other sources like micrometeorite impacts could also help by creating heat and triggering chemical reactions.
Spacecraft measurements had already hinted that the solar wind is the primary driver of water, or its components, at the lunar surface. One key clue, confirmed by Yeo’s team’s experiment: the Moon’s water-related spectral signal changes over the course of the day. In some regions, it’s stronger in the cooler morning and fades as the surface heats up, likely because water and hydrogen molecules move around or escape to space. As the surface cools again at night, the signal peaks again. This daily cycle points to an active source — most likely the solar wind—replenishing tiny amounts of water on the Moon each day. To test whether this is true, Yeo and her colleague, Jason McLain, a research scientist at NASA Goddard, built a custom apparatus to examine Apollo lunar samples. In a first, the apparatus held all experiment components inside: a solar particle beam device, an airless chamber that simulated the Moon’s environment, and a molecule detector. Their invention allowed the researchers to avoid ever taking the sample out of the chamber — as other experiments did — and exposing it to contamination from the water in the air. “It took a long time and many iterations to design the apparatus components and get them all to fit inside,” said McLain, “but it was worth it, because once we eliminated all possible sources of contamination, we learned that this decades-old idea about the solar wind turns out to be true.” Using dust from two different samples picked up on the Moon by NASA’s Apollo 17 astronauts in 1972, Yeo and her colleagues first baked the samples to remove any possible water they could have picked up between air-tight storage in NASA’s space-sample curation facility at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and Goddard’s lab. Then, they used a tiny particle accelerator to bombard the dust with mock solar wind for several days — the equivalent of 80,000 years on the Moon, based on the high dose of the particles used. They used a detector called a spectrometer to measure how much light the dust molecules reflected, which showed how the samples’ chemical makeup changed over time. In the end, the team saw a drop in the light signal that bounced to their detector precisely at the point in the infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum — near 3 microns — where water typically absorbs energy, leaving a telltale signature. While they can’t conclusively say if their experiment made water molecules, the researchers reported in their study that the shape and width of the dip in the wavy line on their graph suggests that both hydroxyl and water were produced in the lunar samples. By Lonnie Shekhtman NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
The Annual Energy Outlook 2025 (AEO2025) explores potential long-term energy trends in the United States. AEO2025 is published in accordance with Section 205c of the Department of Energy Organization Act of 1977 (Public Law 95-91), which requires the Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) to prepare an annual report that contains trends and projections of energy consumption and supply. These projections are used by federal, state, and local governments; industry; trade associations; and other planners and decisionmakers in the public and private sectors.
We prepared the AEO by using the National Energy Modeling System (NEMS) to project a set of scenarios that, taken together, represent a range of outcomes for the U.S. energy system. AEO2025 represents the culmination of a year-long effort that enabled major upgrades to NEMS.
Our policy assumptions are central to understanding our AEO2025 projections. In most of the cases we model, we only consider laws and regulations implemented as of December 2024. As is the case every time we prepare an AEO, a cutoff date is necessary to enable us to conclude our modeling and integrate the final results for publication. Therefore, legislation, regulations, executive actions, and court rulings after that date are not included. We are releasing the model results without a lengthy market analysis this year.
The U.S. energy system underwent major changes in the first quarter of the 21st century as oil and natural gas production surged, renewables were deployed more widely, and energy consumption patterns changed. AEO2025 can help stakeholders examine the ways in which the system could further change through 2050.
Energy markets are complex. Energy models are simplified representations of energy production and consumption, laws and regulations, and producer and consumer behavior. Projections are highly dependent on the data, methodologies, model structures, and assumptions used in their development. These results are not predictions of what will happen. Instead, AEO2025 results represent modeled projections of what could happen given certain assumptions and methodologies.
Consistent with our historical practices and statutory mission, we do not independently propose or advocate future legislative and regulatory changes, although at times we do analyze scenarios based on existing policy proposals. Our assumptions documents provide additional details on the assumptions we included in AEO2025, and an overview of the laws and regulations included in AEO2025 is available on the AEO website.
AEO2025’s projections reflect business-as-usual trends, given known technological and demographic trends and current laws and regulations, and so provides a policy-neutral Reference case and an accompanying set of core side cases that can be used to analyze policy initiatives. For some readers, this approach may be unsatisfying because policy rarely remains static for long periods. But the purpose of basing projections on laws and regulations as of December 2024 is to provide a comparison point for further analysis; without such a reference point, critical information about incremental changes to energy system outcomes based on new assumptions is lost.
Because policies can have meaningful impacts on the energy sector, we have also included two alternative policy cases this year to help stakeholders to examine the effects of regulations implemented since our last AEO. When compared with the Reference case, one case allows stakeholders to examine the effects of recent regulations on power plants and the other recent regulations targeting vehicle fuel economy and emissions.
Modeled Cases
Outcomes concerning future technology, demographics, and resources cannot be known with any degree of certainty. We address many key uncertainties in our projections through alternative cases. In AEO2025, we ran 11 cases to model a range of assumptions. In addition to the two alternative policy cases we examined this year, we also include eight core side cases, which we have presented in prior releases of the AEO. A detailed explanation of each case is available on the website, and a brief description is in the following sections.
AEO2025 Reference case
Our Reference case assesses how the U.S. energy markets could operate under laws and regulations current as of December 2024 and under historically observed technological growth assumptions.
Alternative Electricity case
Our Alternative Electricity case assumes the Clean Air Act (CAA) Section 111 rule implemented by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in April 2024 to regulate carbon dioxide emissions from new gas-fired combustion turbines and existing coal, oil, and gas-fired steam generating units is not in place, and the affected generators are able to operate under rules existing prior to April 2024. In this case, existing coal-fired plants continue operating without requiring modifications to reduce emissions, and generation from new natural gas-fired combined cycle units isn’t constrained based on whether the plant has installed carbon capture equipment.
Alternative Transportation case
Our Alternative Transportation case assumes the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards and EPA’s vehicle tailpipe emission standards for model years 2027–2032 are not in place. The case also assumes the California Air Resources Board’s zero-emission vehicle sale mandates for trucks issued since our last published AEO are not in place. Rules affecting fuel economy and tailpipe emissions that were issued for model years 2026 and earlier remain in place. In this case, introduction of new electric vehicle (EV) models and building of EV charging infrastructure are based on growth in EV sales and registrations rather than on announced public and private sector plans. In addition, manufacturer reshoring of EV and battery supply chains, including growth in eligibility for credits under the Inflation Reduction Act, is slower than in the Reference case.
High and Low Oil Price cases
In the High Oil Price case, the price of Brent crude oil increases to $155 per barrel (b) in 2050, compared with $91/b in the Reference case and $47/b in the Low Oil Price case.
High and Low Oil and Gas Supply cases
The High Oil and Gas Supply case assumes ultimate recovery for new tight oil, tight gas, or shale gas wells are 50% higher than in the Reference case. The case also assumes 50% higher undiscovered resources in Alaska and offshore fields. Technological improvement is assumed to be 50% faster. The Low Oil and Gas Supply case assumes the converse.
High and Low Zero-Carbon Technology Cost cases
The Low Zero-Carbon Technology Cost case assumes faster cost declines for electricity-generating technologies that produce zero emissions as construction and manufacturing experience grows, resulting in 40% lower costs than in the Reference case in 2050. The High Zero-Carbon Technology Cost case, conversely, assumes no additional cost reductions from learning with additional deployment of these electricity generating technologies.
High and Low Economic Growth cases
The High Economic Growth case assumes the compound annual growth rate for U.S. GDP is 2.1% through 2050, and the Low Economic Growth case assumes a 1.2% rate. By contrast, the Reference case assumes the U.S. GDP annual growth rate is 1.8% over the projection period.
Major changes for AEO2025
In 2024 we made significant updates to NEMS, and an overview of the changes can be found in our assumptions documents and in the module-specific fact sheets. Briefly, the model that underpins our outlook now includes three new modules:
The Hydrogen Market Module, which represents hydrogen production and pricing, including the impacts of policy, storage, and logistics
The Carbon Capture, Allocation, Transportation, and Sequestration Module, which allocates projected supply of captured CO2 across the energy system either for enhanced oil recovery or storage
The Hydrocarbon Supply Module, which improves the representation of upstream oil and natural gas resources, replacing the legacy NEMS Oil and Gas Supply Module
In addition to the new modules, we have extensively enhanced many existing modules to better reflect market dynamics and emerging technologies. We will provide additional details in the AEO2025 model documentation in the coming months.
We have rewritten and modernized significant portions of the NEMS code base. The source code associated with NEMS is now available via GitHub under an open-source license.
In addition to changes to NEMS, we also updated the way we calculate primary energy consumption of electricity generation from noncombustible renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, hydroelectric, and geothermal. We now calculate consumption of noncombustible renewable energy for electricity generation using the captured energy approach, which applies a constant conversion factor of 3,412 British thermal units per kilowatthour (Btu/kWh), using the heat content of electricity. This approach is a change from our previous methodology, called the fossil fuel equivalency approach, and is consistent with the methodology now used for all EIA products and reports.
The captured energy approach is more consistent with international energy statistics standards than the fossil fuel equivalency approach.
Source: US Energy Information Administration – EIA
Headline: EIA projections show U.S. energy consumption decreasing in the near term, increasing after early 2040s
U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON DC 20585
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2025
U.S. energy consumption decreases in the next several years and doesn’t increase again until the early 2040s through 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2025 (AEO2025). U.S. energy consumption in 2050 is lower than in 2024 in most of the scenarios modeled in AEO2025, but the range of outcomes varies significantly based on the underlying assumptions in the scenarios EIA analyzed.
AEO2025 explores long-term energy trends in the United States. It relies on a Reference case that assumes laws and regulations in effect as of December 2024 remain in effect through 2050. AEO2025 also includes scenario-based analyses of separate side cases that make various other assumptions about the energy sector:
The Alternative Electricity case assumes electric generators can operate under regulations that existed prior to April 2024, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented a new rule targeting carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing generating units.
The Alternative Transportation case assumes recent rules targeting vehicle fuel economy and emissions from the EPA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the California Air Resource Board are not in place.
The High Oil Price case assumes the price of Brent crude oil increases to $155 per barrel (b) in 2050, compared with $91/b in the Reference case and $47/b in the Low Oil Price case.
The High Oil and Gas Supply case assumes ultimate recovery for new tight oil, tight gas, or shale gas wells are 50% higher than in the Reference case. The case also assumes 50% higher undiscovered resources in Alaska and offshore fields. Technological improvement is assumed to be 50% faster. The Low Oil and Gas Supply case assumes the converse.
The Low Zero-Carbon Technology Cost case assumes faster cost declines for zero-emissions electricity-generating technologies resulting in 40% lower costs in 2050 than in the Reference case. The High Zero-Carbon Technology Cost case assumes no additional cost reductions with additional deployment.
The High Economic Growth case assumes the compound annual growth rate for U.S. GDP is 2.1% through 2050, compared with 1.2% in the Low Economic Growth case and 1.8% in the Reference case.
For AEO2025, EIA significantly updated the model that underpins the results, adding a hydrogen market module; a carbon capture, allocation, transportation, and sequestration module; and an enhanced upstream oil and natural gas resources module. EIA also enhanced many existing modules to better reflect market dynamics and emerging technologies.
The full Annual Energy Outlook 2025 is available on the EIA website, including full projection tables, a brief narrative, and a detailed description of the assumptions used in each case.
The product described in this press release was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA’s data, analysis, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. government. The views in the product and this press release therefore should not be construed as representing those of the U.S. Department of Energy or other federal agencies.
U.S. ENERGY INFORMATION ADMINISTRATION WASHINGTON DC 20585
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 15, 2025
U.S. energy consumption decreases in the next several years and doesn’t increase again until the early 2040s through 2050, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Annual Energy Outlook 2025 (AEO2025). U.S. energy consumption in 2050 is lower than in 2024 in most of the scenarios modeled in AEO2025, but the range of outcomes varies significantly based on the underlying assumptions in the scenarios EIA analyzed.
AEO2025 explores long-term energy trends in the United States. It relies on a Reference case that assumes laws and regulations in effect as of December 2024 remain in effect through 2050. AEO2025 also includes scenario-based analyses of separate side cases that make various other assumptions about the energy sector:
The Alternative Electricity case assumes electric generators can operate under regulations that existed prior to April 2024, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) implemented a new rule targeting carbon dioxide emissions from new and existing generating units.
The Alternative Transportation case assumes recent rules targeting vehicle fuel economy and emissions from the EPA, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and the California Air Resource Board are not in place.
The High Oil Price case assumes the price of Brent crude oil increases to $155 per barrel (b) in 2050, compared with $91/b in the Reference case and $47/b in the Low Oil Price case.
The High Oil and Gas Supply case assumes ultimate recovery for new tight oil, tight gas, or shale gas wells are 50% higher than in the Reference case. The case also assumes 50% higher undiscovered resources in Alaska and offshore fields. Technological improvement is assumed to be 50% faster. The Low Oil and Gas Supply case assumes the converse.
The Low Zero-Carbon Technology Cost case assumes faster cost declines for zero-emissions electricity-generating technologies resulting in 40% lower costs in 2050 than in the Reference case. The High Zero-Carbon Technology Cost case assumes no additional cost reductions with additional deployment.
The High Economic Growth case assumes the compound annual growth rate for U.S. GDP is 2.1% through 2050, compared with 1.2% in the Low Economic Growth case and 1.8% in the Reference case.
For AEO2025, EIA significantly updated the model that underpins the results, adding a hydrogen market module; a carbon capture, allocation, transportation, and sequestration module; and an enhanced upstream oil and natural gas resources module. EIA also enhanced many existing modules to better reflect market dynamics and emerging technologies.
The full Annual Energy Outlook 2025 is available on the EIA website, including full projection tables, a brief narrative, and a detailed description of the assumptions used in each case.
The product described in this press release was prepared by the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), the statistical and analytical agency within the U.S. Department of Energy. By law, EIA’s data, analysis, and forecasts are independent of approval by any other officer or employee of the U.S. government. The views in the product and this press release therefore should not be construed as representing those of the U.S. Department of Energy or other federal agencies.
EIA Press Contact: Chris Higginbotham, EIAMedia@eia.gov
TORONTO, April 15, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Abraxas Power Corp. (“Abraxas Power”), a leading energy transition developer, and its subsidiary Exploits Valley Renewable Energy Corporation (“EVREC”), today announced that Newfoundland and Labrador’s Department of Environment and Climate Change has released the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) guidelines for the highly anticipated Green Energy Hub project in the Botwood, NL area (the “Project”). The Project, set to revolutionize energy production in the province, aims to harness renewable energy sources to produce hydrogen in a sustainable and environmentally responsible manner.
The purpose of the EIS is to identify for all phases of the Project (construction, operation and maintenance, decommissioning and rehabilitation) the important beneficial and adverse environmental effects associated with the Project, measures to mitigate adverse effects, the significance of residual environmental effects, public concerns and the response to those concerns. The comprehensive guidelines are intended to ensure that the Project is developed with the highest environmental standards in mind, supporting Newfoundland and Labrador’s commitment to a clean energy future while minimizing environmental effects.
The release of the EIS guidelines marks the beginning of the formal environmental assessment process. Public consultations will be held throughout the process, allowing community members, stakeholders, and interested parties to find out more about the Project as it develops.
EVREC remains committed to the responsible development of the Project and is eager to continue collaboration with stakeholders, regulators, and the public throughout the next phase of environmental review. Through the EIS, EVREC will provide further detailed information about the Project in various areas, including Project scope, water resource management, air quality and emissions, flora and fauna, and Project component locations, to name a few. The Project is expected to not only contribute to the province’s green energy transition but also create significant economic benefits, including job creation, new investment opportunities, and the establishment of Newfoundland and Labrador as a key player in the growing global hydrogen market.
“The EIS is an essential part of our approach, and we are eager to maintain open, ongoing engagement with stakeholders and regulators while continuing to work on refining and advancing all aspects of the Project”, said Dean Comand, COO of Abraxas Power. “Newfoundland and Labrador is on the cutting edge of clean energy innovation, and this Project represents an exciting opportunity for the province to contribute to global sustainability efforts. The EIS is an important step in the process and underscores our commitment to responsible development and to working alongside communities and stakeholders to ensure that the environmental impact is carefully considered at every stage of this transformative project.”
EVREC is a Power-to-X (P2X) project that was awarded access to over 300 square kilometres of crown lands by the Province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 2023 for EVREC’s use in the development of its project in Central Newfoundland. EVREC will include up to 3+ gigawatts (GW) of onshore wind capacity with associated energy and molecular storage to power behind-the-meter green hydrogen (H2) and green ammonia (NH3) production. The Project anticipates generating ~180,000 tons of green H2 and ~1,000,000 tons of green NH3 annually. EVREC aims to have its own dedicated port infrastructure to export its products to global markets.
EVREC has significantly advanced the Project through pre-construction activities which include engineering, wind resource measurement, and environmental assessment processes, including environmental data collection, and public and stakeholder engagement. The final Project design is subject to these ongoing assessments and activities.
EVREC’S Environmental Assessment Registration can be found at:
Abraxas Power is a pioneering energy transition developer focused on decarbonizing hard-to-abate sectors and creating value by solving the current and future challenges of the energy transition. Abraxas Power’s broad mandate allows it to see opportunities across technologies and geographies to transform the global energy industry. Our team has extensive experience in leading, financing, and solving the challenges associated with energy transition, and a proven track record of delivering complex, large-scale development projects across various disciplines, including renewable power and storage, hydrogen and ammonia production, industrial and precious metals, large-scale project construction, and operations at scale. The team possesses strong project finance and capital markets experience and has a history of creating value for shareholders, stakeholders, and the communities they live in. Abraxas Power has signed strategic partnerships with various global strategics and technology providers.
Abraxas Power has secured over US$9 billion in capital projects through competitive government awards over the past year in furtherance of the energy transition, including our marquis EVREC Project.
India contributes 7.1% to global GDP through its automotive sector and ranks 4th in global vehicle production.
Despite a strong manufacturing base, India holds only 3% share in global traded auto components,highlighting a vast scope for expansion.
The Vision 2030 roadmap aims to scale production to $145bn, exports to $60bn, and generate 2–2.5 million jobs.
Government schemes like FAME, PM E-Drive, and PLI have mobilized ₹66,000+ crore to support EVs and localization.
With targeted reforms and GVC integration, India can raise its global component trade share from 3% to 8% by 2030.
On 11th April 2024, NITI Aayog released a report titled ‘Automotive Industry: Powering India’s Participation in Global Value Chains’, launched by Vice Chairman Shri Suman Bery, senior members, and the CEO of NITI Aayog. The report outlines India’s Global Value Chain (GVC) potential in the automotive sector and highlights strategic pathways for global leadership.
India’s automotive industry is a cornerstone of the nation’s manufacturing and economic growth, contributing 7.1% to India’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 49% to manufacturing GDP. As the fourth-largestautomobileproducer globally, India possesses the scale and strategic depth to emerge as a global leader in the automotive value chain. The sector spans a vast ecosystem, from vehicle assembly and auto component manufacturing to deep interlinkages with critical industries such as steel, electronics, rubber, IT, and logistics. In recent years, India has seen exponential growth in vehicle production, with over 28 million units manufactured in 2023–24 alone. The industry’s contribution goes beyond industrial output, and it supports millions of direct and indirect jobs, spurs innovation, and is central to India’s green mobility transition, industrial ambitions, and trade strategy.
The global automotive component market was valued at $2 trillion in 2022, with $700 billion traded across borders. Despite India’s strong manufacturing base, its share in the globally traded auto component market remains at just 3% (~$20 billion), highlighting a vast scope for expansion. India’s trade ratio in auto components is near-neutral (~0.99), with exports and imports nearly balancing each other. This also underlines the domestic sector’s limited penetration in high-value, high-precision segments such as engine and engine components, along with drive transmission and steering systems, where India holds just 2–4% of the global trade share. Bridging this gap requires structural reforms, strategic investments, and a coordinated industrial policy approach. With the right enabling conditions, India can triple exports to $60 billion, generate a $25 billion trade surplus, and create over 2-2.5 million direct jobs by 2030, propelling it toward becoming a globally competitive, innovation-driven manufacturing hub.
Strategic Importance of the Automotive Sector
Contributes 7.1% to India’s GDP and 49% to manufacturing GDP.
Employs millions and supports critical linkages across steel, electronics, and IT sectors.
India’s current share in globally traded auto components is approximately 3% or 20 billion.
India’s Vision for Automotive Industry
This vision aligns with India’s aspirations to become a global manufacturing hub under the Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.
Global Trends Shaping the Sector
1. Rise of Electric Vehicles (EVs):
EVs are reshaping manufacturing priorities, with China producing over 8 million EVs in 2023.
The EU and the US are accelerating EV adoption through regulatory mandates and subsidies.
EVs are increasing the demand for batteries, semiconductors, and advanced materials.
2. Digital and Advanced Manufacturing:
Integration of AI, robotics, digital twins, Internet of Things (IoT), and 3D printing is driving efficiency.
Many global automakers are investing heavily in creating smart factories, where AI, IoT, and robotics are integrated into every aspect of the production process. Countries like Germany and South Korea are leading in smart factory adoption.
3. Sustainability and Circular Economy:
Automakers are moving toward carbon neutrality, material recycling, and energy efficiency.
Examples: BMW’s EV battery recycling and Volkswagen’s renewable energy sourcing.
4. Sectoral Interdependence:
Auto industry is a major consumer of steel, electronics, rubber, glass, textiles, and IT services.
Increasing reliance on semiconductors and AI-driven software for innovative mobility solutions.
Major Government Interventions
1.Make in India:Launched in 2014, the Make in India initiative has provided a significant boost to the country’s manufacturing sector, particularly in automobiles. This policy promotes domestic manufacturing, reduces reliance on imports, and encourages foreign direct investment.
2.Atmanirbhar Bharat:The Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative aims to foster self-sufficiency in manufacturing and reduce the country’s dependence on foreign components. In the automotive sector, this has resulted in increased domestic production of critical components such as engines, transmissions, and EV batteries. The government has also extended support to start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the automotive space, helping them integrate into global supply chains.
3.FAME India Scheme (Phases I & II):The Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME) scheme has been pivotal in promoting clean mobility in India. Phase II, with an outlay of ₹11,500 crore, focuses on demand incentives for electric two-wheelers, three-wheelers, buses, and the development of public charging infrastructure. It also aims to promote technology platforms for EVs and create a robust domestic EV ecosystem.
4. PM E-Drive Scheme (2024–26):Launched to accelerate EV adoption and reduce urban pollution, this scheme has a budget of ₹10,900 crore and targets large-scale procurement of electric vehicles:
24.79 lakh electric two-wheelers
3.2 lakh electric three-wheelers
Procurement of 14,028 electric buses by State Transport Undertakings (STUs)/public transport agencies
₹2,000 crore earmarked for national-level charging infrastructure expansion.
5. Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme for Auto and ACC Batteries:With a total allocation of ₹44,038 crore (PLI scheme- INR 25,938 crore, PLI scheme for ACC Battery Storage- INR 18,100 crores), this flagship initiative aims to boost the domestic manufacturing of advanced automotive technologies, including EVs, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, and advanced battery storage solutions. It provides financial incentives to OEMs and component manufacturers for investing in cutting-edge technologies, achieving economies of scale, and integrating into global supply chains. The scheme also prioritises domestic value addition, export readiness, and job creation through technology-driven innovation.
Key Challenges Hindering the Global Value Chain’s Integration
10%cost disadvantage for India versus China due to:
Higher raw material and machinery costs
100% depreciation rate vs 50% in China (~3.4% cost burden)
High logistics, financing, and energy costs
Underperformance in high-precision segments:
India’s global share: Only 2–4% in engine and engine components, along with drive transmission and steering systems
Inadequate R&D ecosystem and limited IP ownership
Proposed Interventions for GVC Integration
Fiscal Measures:
Operational Expenditure (Opex) Support: To scale up manufacturing capabilities, with a focus on capital expenditure (Capex) for tooling, dies, and infrastructure.
Skill Development: Initiatives to build a talent pipeline critical for sustaining growth.
R&D, Government facilitated IP transfer and Branding: Providing incentives for research, development, international branding to improve product differentiation and empowering MSMEs through IP transfers.
Cluster Development: Fostering collaboration between firms through common facilities such as R&D and testing centers to strengthen the supply chain.
Non-Fiscal Reforms:
Industry 4.0 Adoption: Encouraging the integration of digital technologies and enhanced manufacturing standards to improve efficiency.
International Collaboration: Promoting joint ventures (JVs), foreign collaborations, and free trade agreements (FTAs) to expand global market access.
Ease of Doing Business: Simplifying regulatory processes, worker hour flexibility, supplier discovery & development and improving business conditions for automotive firms.
Conclusion
India’s automotive sector stands at a decisive inflection point, where focused reforms, policy clarity, and industry alignment can elevate it into the league of global leaders in automotive manufacturing. With the world shifting rapidly towards clean, smart, and connected mobility, India must accelerate its integration into global value chains by building competitiveness in high-precision components, fostering innovation, and deepening its export footprint. Over the next five years, the effective execution of planned interventions—ranging from skilling and infrastructure to R&D and global partnerships- will determine whether India becomes a hub for high-value auto components or remains a low-cost player in traditional segments. With the right mix of ambition and action, India can become a globally recognised supplier of next-generation mobility solutions.
Clean energy projects prioritised for grid connections
Ofgem is expected to confirm the National Energy System Operator’s ambitious new plan to reform grid connections and unlock billions of investment.
Grid connections for businesses that will deliver clean energy prioritised, driving growth to put more money in working people’s pockets
Pro-growth reforms to help unlock £40 billion of mainly private investment a year in clean energy and infrastructure, with industries of the future such as data centres accelerated for quicker grid connections
Comes as £43.7 billion of private investment announced into the UK’s clean energy industries since July
So-called ‘zombie’ projects will no longer hold up the queue for connection to the electricity grid to prioritise businesses that will drive growth and deliver energy security.
Companies are currently waiting up to 15 years to be connected to the grid leaving promising businesses ‘grid-locked’, and over the last 5 years, the grid connection queue has grown tenfold.
The changes will help to kick-start the economy to put more money in working people’s pockets, the first priority of the government’s Plan for Change.
Ofgem is expected to confirm the ambitious new plan later today (Tuesday 15 April), drafted by the National Energy System Operator in partnership with the energy industry.
The reforms will help unlock £40 billion a year of mainly private investment, growing the economy, creating jobs and raising living standards as a key part of the government’s Plan for Change.
This builds on the latest figures showing that since July, the clean energy industry is now booming in Britain, with £43.7 billion of private investment being announced into the UK’s clean energy industries.
Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said:
Too many companies are facing gridlock because they cannot get the clean energy they need to drive growth and create jobs.
These changes will axe ‘zombie’ projects and cut the time it takes to get high growth firms online while also fast-tracking connections for companies delivering homegrown power and energy security through our Plan for Change.
In an uncertain world, our message to the global clean energy industry is clear; come and build it in Britain because we are a safe haven. If you want certainty, stability and security when it comes to your investments, choose Britain.
The plan comes after the Prime Minister has said that a new era of global insecurity means that the government must go further and faster reshaping the economy through the Plan for Change, and that this requires a new muscular industrial policy that supports British industry to forge ahead.
Lack of access to grid connections has been a significant factor holding back new investment in UK industries.
Under the new changes, industries of the future from data centres and AI, to wind and solar projects, will be accelerated for grid connections.
That means deprioritising those projects that are not ready or not aligned with strategic plans.
New commitments to investing in the UK have topped £38 billion since July 2024 for data centres alone, but grid access is the single biggest challenge facing these projects.
Today’s reforms will help fast track projects to generate homegrown, renewable electricity into homes and businesses, protecting British billpayers from the rollercoaster of global fossil fuel markets and building an energy system that can bring down bills for good.
Delivering these reforms will help unleash £40 billion a year of mainly private investment in homegrown clean power projects and infrastructure across the country, creating good jobs across the country including engineers, welders and construction workers.
By taking a strategic, planned approach the changes will remove the need for tens of billions of pounds of unnecessary grid reinforcement, saving billpayers £5 billion that would have been funded through charges on bills.
Ofgem CEO, Jonathan Brearley, Chief Executive Officer, Ofgem said:
The proposed connection reforms will supercharge Great Britain’s clean power ambitions with a more targeted approach anticipated to unlock £40 billion a year of investment and energise economic growth.
The reforms would cut through red tape, consign ‘zombie projects’ to the past and accelerate homegrown renewable power and energy storage connections as we head to 2030.
Houses and hospitals, electric vehicle charging stations, data centres and the emerging AI sector, would also all benefit from the proposed streamlined fast-track approach, which would help boost energy security and drive down bills.
Kayte O’Neill, Chief Operating Officer, National Energy System Operator, said:
Reforming the connections process is a key enabler for delivering Clean Power by 2030 and will drive economic growth for Great Britain. Today’s milestone reflects the close collaboration across the energy industry with support from the government and Ofgem.
Together with the wider energy industry, NESO will focus on prioritising agreements for projects that are critical and shovel ready, bringing these to the front of the queue and giving developers the certainty they need to support investment decisions.
Notes to editors
Through the landmark Planning and Infrastructure Bill, the government is also bringing forward legislation to support Ofgem and NESO to deliver the reforms.
Every family and business in the country has paid the price of Britain’s dependence on foreign fossil fuel markets, which was starkly exposed when Putin invaded Ukraine and British energy customers were among the hardest hit in Western Europe, with bills reaching record heights.
The government’s clean power mission is the solution to this crisis; by sprinting to clean, homegrown energy, including renewables and nuclear, the UK can take back control of its energy and protect both family and national finances from fossil fuel price spikes with cleaner, affordable power.
The Clean Power Action Plan estimated that Clean Power 2030 could require around £40 billion of investment on average per year between 2025 to 2030. This includes around £30 billion of investment in generation assets per year, estimated by DESNZ, and around £10 billion of investment in electricity transmission network assets per year, estimated by NESO.
In addition to the £34.8 billion in clean energy private investment announcements secured around the October 2024 International Investment Summit the following private investments have been announced. This means that since July 2024 the government has seen £43.7 billion of private investment announced into the UK’s clean energy industries.
The Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards, known as the “Oscars of Corporate Sustainability”, held their award ceremony today (December 11). Taipower stood out among 526 companies to win the Corporate Sustainability Report Platinum Award, as well as a Best Sustainability Practice Awards in Taiwan and a Creative Communication Leadership Award. Notably, Taipower has been recognized in the Sustainability Reporting category for 16 years in a row since 2009. This also marks the sixth time the Company has received the Platinum Award, the highest honor in the Energy Industry category. A Taipower representative stated that because electricity is a vital foundation for Taiwan’s livelihood and economic development, Taipower remains committed to ensuring both stable power supply and environmental sustainability.
For the 17th Taiwan Corporate Sustainability Awards in 2024, the individual performance awards were presented on November 20. Then, today, the award ceremony for the Sustainability Reporting and Comprehensive Sustainability Performance categories was held today at the Grand Hilai Taipei hotel. Department of Corporate Planning Director Kuo Chiu-Ying represented Taipower in accepting the prestigious awards from Eugene Chien, Chairman of the Taiwan Institute for Sustainable Energy.
A Taipower representative pointed out that winning a Corporate Sustainability Report Platinum Award and a Best Sustainability Practice Awards ( Comprehensive Performance Category) this year highlights the Company’s outstanding achievements in three aspects – environmental sustainability, social inclusion, and corporate governance – and in thoroughly and transparently disclosing this information in the sustainability report. Taipower’s 2023 Sustainability Report outlines the Company’s comprehensive sustainability development plan, presenting five sustainability visions, ten strategic pathways, and initiatives corresponding to each. These efforts align with both the United Nations and Taiwan’s sustainable development goals (SDGs). This year, the report places even greater emphasis on disclosing information in key areas such as climate action, sustainable supply chain development, and ecological inclusion, showcasing Taipower’s concrete actions toward achieving sustainable operations.
In recent years, Taipower has continuously advanced renewable energy development, promoted modernization for low-carbon power generation, and adopted new energy technologies, steadily progressing toward the goal of net-zero emissions for the power sector. In addition, Taipower embraces the spirit of other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs), applying nature-based solutions to foster harmony between power infrastructure and ecological systems, and thus protecting biodiversity and the natural environment. Examples include using conservation efforts at the Yong’an Wetlands near the Hsinta Power Plant to create a Flying Bird Power Plant; and implementing a bat habitat relocation project at the Taixi Wind Plant.
A Taipower representative explained that this is the Company’s fifth time receiving the Creative Communication Leadership Award in the corporate governance category of the Sustainability Performance Awards. The Company has continued to promote popular science education on electricity through initiatives tailored to audiences of all ages. These initiatives include helping create the Taiwan Science Train and the Workplace Visitation Program for Youth; organizing the kW Design Award, Taiwan’s only electricity-themed design competition; and creating TAIPOWER D/S ONE, Taiwan’s first green energy-themed exhibition hall. Through these diverse, creative, interactive platforms, Taipower effectively connects knowledge of power to everyday life. In recognition of these efforts, Taipower was also honored with a Taiwan Sustainability Action Award at the 2024 SDG Asia this August.
Spokesperson: Vice President Tsai Chih-Meng Phone: (02) 2366-6271/0958-749-333 Email: u910707@taipower.com.tw Contact Person: Department of Corporate Planning Director Kuo Chiu-Ying Phone: (02) 2366-6440/0978-105-282 Email: u004770@taipower.com.tw
Source: People’s Republic of China – State Council News
An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. China’s first cross-region hydrogen heavy-duty truck route was launched on Monday, marking a milestone in terms of advancing hydrogen energy development in China’s western regions. The route, now operational for regular freight services via hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks, spans 1,150 kilometers from southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality to Qinzhou Port in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, passing through southwestern Guizhou Province. [Photo/Xinhua]
BEIJING, April 14 — China Petrochemical Corporation, also known as Sinopec Group, which is China’s largest oil refiner, on Monday announced the official launch of the country’s first cross-region hydrogen heavy-duty truck route, marking a milestone in terms of advancing hydrogen energy development in China’s western regions.
The route, now operational for regular freight services via hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks, spans 1,150 kilometers from southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality to Qinzhou Port in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, passing through southwestern Guizhou Province.
The route features four hydrogen refueling stations, all built by Sinopec, to ensure a reliable hydrogen supply network along the way.
These regions are rich in hydrogen resources, with large-scale deployment of hydrogen production technologies such as water electrolysis and ammonia decomposition.
With an annual industrial by-product hydrogen output exceeding 400,000 tonnes — these regions can collectively meet the fuel demands of 360,000 hydrogen-powered logistics vehicles.
Apart from transportation, the corridor serves as an industrial nexus. It is projected to handle 220,000 units of cargo annually in two-way traffic.
An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. [Photo/Xinhua]Hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks depart from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China, April 14, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]Hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks await departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China, April 14, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]Hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks await departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China, April 14, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. [Photo/Xinhua]An aerial drone photo taken on April 14, 2025 shows hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks awaiting departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China. [Photo/Xinhua]Hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks await departure from the dry port of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor in Chongqing, southwest China, April 14, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]
Source: The Conversation – USA – By Erin Baker, Distinguished Professor of Industrial Engineering and Faculty Director of The Energy Transition Institute, UMass Amherst
A turbine from the Roth Rock wind farm spins on the spine of Backbone Mountain behind the Mettiki Coal processing plant in Oakland, Md.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The Trump administration is working to lift regulations on coal-fired power plants in the hopes of making its energy less expensive. But while cost is one important aspect, utilities have a lot more to consider when they choose their power sources.
Different technologies play different roles in the power system. Some sources, like nuclear energy, are reliable but inflexible. Other sources, like oil, are flexible but expensive and polluting.
How utilities choose which power source to invest in depends in large part on two key aspects: price and reliability.
Power prices
One way to compare power sources is by their levelized cost of electricity. This shows how much it costs to produce one unit of electricity on average over the life of the generator.
Coal is one of the more expensive technologies for utilities today, making it less competitive compared with solar, wind and natural gas, by Lazard’s calculations. Only nuclear, offshore wind and “peaker” plants, which are used only during periods of high electricity demand, are more expensive.
Land-based wind and solar power have the lowest estimated costs, far below what consumers are paying for electricity today. The National Renewable Energy Lab has found similar levelized costs for renewable energy, though its estimates for nuclear are lower than Lazard’s.
Upfront costs are also important and can make the difference for whether new power projects can be built, as the East Coast has seen lately.
But cost is not the whole story. Utilities must balance a number of criteria when investing in power sources.
Most important is matching supply and demand at every moment of the day. Due to the technical characteristics of electricity and how it flows, if the supply of electricity is even a little bit lower than the demand, that can trigger a blackout. This means power companies and consumers need generation that can ramp down when demand is low and ramp up when demand is high.
Since wind and solar generation depend on the wind blowing and the sun shining, these sources must be combined with other types of generation or with storage, such as batteries, to ensure the power grid has exactly as much power as it needs at all times.
Combining renewable energy and battery storage or both wind and solar can smooth out power supply dips and spikes. The Pine Tree Wind Farm and Solar Power Plant in the Tehachapi Mountains north of Los Angeles do both. Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Nuclear and coal are predictable and run reliably, but they are inflexible – they take time to ramp up and down, and doing so is expensive. Steam turbines are simply not built for flexibility. The multiple days it took to shut down Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after an earthquake and tsunami damaged its backup power sources in 2011 illustrated the challenges and safety issues related to ramping down nuclear plants.
That means coal and nuclear aren’t as helpful on those hot summer days when utilities need a quick power increase to keep air conditioners running. These peaks may only happen a few days a year, but keeping the power on is crucial for human health and the economy.
In today’s energy system, the most flexible generation sources are natural gas and hydro. They can quickly adjust to meet changing electricity demand without the safety and cost concerns of coal and nuclear. Hydro can ramp in minutes but can only be built where large dams are feasible. The most cost-effective natural gas technology can ramp up within hours.
The big picture, by power source
Over the past two decades, natural gas use has risen quickly to overtake coal as the most common fuel for generating electricity in the U.S. The boom was largely driven by the growing use of fracking technology, which allowed producers to extract gas from rock and lowered the price.
But natural gas has its challenges. Natural gas requires pipelines to carry it across the country, leading to disruptive construction. As Texas saw during its February 2021 blackouts, natural gas equipment can also fail in extreme cold. And like coal, natural gas is a fossil fuel that releases greenhouse gases during combustion, so it is also helping to cause climate change and contributes to air pollution that can harm human health.
Nuclear power has been gaining interest recently since it does not contribute to climate change or local air pollution. It also provides a steady baseload of power, which is useful for computing centers as their demand does not fluctuate as much as households.
Of course, nuclear has ongoing challenges around the storage of radioactive waste and security concerns, and construction of large nuclear plants takes many years.
Solar and wind have grown rapidly in recent years due to their falling costs and environmental benefits. According to Lazard, the cost of solar combined with batteries, which would be as flexible as hydropower, is well below the cost of coal with its limited flexibility.
However, wind and solar tend to take up a lot of space, which has led to challenges in local approvals for new sites and transmission lines. In addition, the sheer number of new projects is overwhelming power system operators’ ability to evaluate them, leading to increasing wait times for new generation to come online.
What’s ahead?
Utilities have another consideration: Federal, state and local governments can also influence and sometimes limit utilities’ choices. Tariffs, for example, can increase the cost of critical components for new construction. Permitting and regulations can slow down development. Subsidies can artificially lower costs.
In our view, policies that are done right can help utilities move toward more reliable and cost-effective choices which are also cleaner. Done wrong, they can be costly to the economy and the environment.
Erin Baker receives funding from NSF, DOE, and Sloan Foundation
Paola Pimentel Furlanetto receives funding from NSF and Sloan Foundation
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Scientists comment on the British Steel factory situation.
Dr Julian Steer, a Research Fellow from Cardiff University’s School of Engineering, said:
How hot do the blast furnaces get? How do the blast furnaces work? And why do we need these certain ores/materials to keep them running?
“The hottest part of the furnace can get to temperatures of up to 2200°C; the blast furnace converts Iron Oxide, supplied as Iron ore, to Iron by a counter current chemical reduction reaction where raw materials descend through the furnace as hot gases rise up through the furnace. The blast furnace is a very well optimized process that requires the reactions to occur at an even rate throughout the process. To do this, raw materials are selected based on the properties needed to produce iron continuously and efficiently.”
Why are the blast furnaces so difficult to switch back on if they turn off?
“The size, dimensions, and complex reactions in the blast furnace mean that heat distribution and heat transfer through the furnace are absolutely critical to stable iron production. Raw materials are continuously added to the top of the furnace as hot molten iron is continuously tapped from the bottom, the shear scale of this process means that the distribution of the heat through the furnace is critical at all times.”
Why is it crucial that they need to mobilise these supplies of fuel etc.?
“The production efficiency and stability of the whole process of iron production requires careful raw material selection to maintain consistent, and uniform reactions through the furnace and process.”
What can the government do if these blast furnace turn cold?
“If the furnace goes cold, the molten materials inside become solid, blocking the furnace and making any form of restart very difficult, costly and potentially terminally damaging to the furnace.”
Dr Abigail K Ackerman, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow, Department of Materials, Imperial College London, said:
Blast Furnace Operation:
“A blast furnace is used to convert iron ore (hematite, Fe2O3) to pig iron (Fe) by mixing it with coke (carbon), limestone and hot air.
“Limestone is used to remove impurities, forming slag which is a waste material. The slag collects impurities, primarily silica, and is removed and used in construction materials like cement.
“The coke, which is a derivative of coal, reacts with the hot air, which is blown in at the bottom of the furnace at around 1000degC, and forms carbon monoxide (CO). The carbon monoxide reacts with the iron ore to produce molten iron and CO2, which is released as gas.
“The resultant molten liquid iron ore is tapped out at the bottom of the furnace, and is referred to as pig iron.”
Blast Furnace Temperatures:
“Blast furnaces have ‘heat zones’ in order to drive the different chemical reactions which occur within the furnaces. They are set up in a large chimney like structure and have 3 main zones:
“Top (throat) – 200degC to 600degC – Raw materials are poured in
“Middle (Stack) – 600degC to 1200degC – Iron ore starts to reduce forming gases (mainly CO) and the initial reduction of iron ore occurs. The initial reaction has the iron ore (Fe2O3) eventually reducing to FeO.
“Middle (Bosh) – 1200degC to 1600degC – The main chemical reaction occurs, where FeO reduced to Fe. The slag forms here, where limestone reacts with impurities.
“Bottom (Hearth) – up to 2000degC – Hot air (1000degC to 1200degC) is blown in at the bottom of the furnace, which causes the coke to combust and release heat and CO2.
“The molten iron and slag are collected. The slag is lighter that the molten iron so is floats on top of it and can be collected by tapping, or drilling a hole, above the molten iron and allowing the slag to flow out..
“The molten pig iron is removed by tapping, or drilling, a hole in the bottom of the furnace, and flows through guide channels to be collected and transferred to a basic oxygen furnace (BOF) to mix with carbon and make steel.
“Tap holes are made roughly every couple of hours, and then plugged back up with a clay mixture to contain the heat and molten materials in the furnace.
Essential Materials:
“Coking coal, iron ore and limestone are essential to keep the blast furnaces in Scunthorpe running, and these are the critical raw materials that are being sourced. Without these materials in the correct amounts, the chemical reaction will be disrupted and the furnace will cool as the chemical reaction absorbs heat, which is provided by the burning of coke.”
Why can’t you let it go cold?
“The high temperature of the blast furnace means the iron and slag are molten at the bottom, they are in liquid form at around 1500degC. If the furnace is allowed to cool, these materials solidify and can stick to the interior of the furnace. When the metal cools it contracts, which can cause the lining of the furnace to become damaged resulting in expensive repairs to the furnace interior before it can be heated up again.
“Additionally, blast furnaces have various inlets and outlets for pumping in hot air and extracting the molten material. When this solidifies, these can become blocked and are extremely difficult and costly to fix.
“The chemical reaction is disrupted when the furnace goes cold, and restarting this reaction can be complicated due to the heat required to melt the solicited materials, and the balance of gas and materials needed to obtain the correct chemical reaction.
“Finally, a large amount of fuel is required to restart a furnace, which is costly, and it can take anything from days to weeks to get the furnace back up to temperature and getting the correct chemical reaction to occur. It takes much more energy to melt the materials back down than to keep them at temperature. And, of course, there’s a loss of production which costs money.”
Why is it crucial to keep the Scunthorpe furnaces running?
“The Scunthorpe blast furnaces are the last remaining blast furnaces operating in the UK, and therefore the only method for the UK to produce ‘virgin’ steel, which is steel that has not been used in any other process. Other steel producers in the UK, such as TATA, have moved to using recycled steel and electric arc furnaces (EAF). Without the Scunthorpe plant, there will be an impact of the supply chain of steel to essential services such as construction, rail and defence. There will also be an impact on the Scunthorpe community, with a loss of work for the many steelworkers.”
What can the Government do if they turn cold?
“If the furnaces go cold, the options are to restart the furnaces, which will be more costly that obtaining the raw materials required to continue steel production due to the damage that will occur within the furnace from the solidification of the iron and slag, and the large amount of energy required to restart the furnaces.
“The government can choose to change the type of steel production to, for example, recycled steel using EAFs, like Port Talbot, however this will most likely result in job losses, economic impact on the people of Scunthorpe and the UK economy, and significant disruption to the UK supply chain. There is also not enough scrap steel to supply EAFs, so primary virgin steel will need to be sourced from elsewhere. The National Grid is also not set up to supply the energy required to fuel EAFs at this scale so it would be a timely and costly option.
“There is also the option to start producing green steel, which uses hydrogen as a reduction agent rather than coal based coke. However, this requires a large amount of hydrogen and the UK hydrogen economy is not set up for this scale of production currently. Nevertheless, this is the best option for long term CO2 goals.
“Finally, there is the option to close British Steel. This would again have a significant impact on the UK economy, supply chain and the local area. The loss of steel sovereignty could impact the supply chain in the long run as there would be an increased dependence on external steel suppliers, which is impacted by geopolitics.”
Prof Barbara Rossi, Associate Professor of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, said:
“Steel is the most commonly used metal in the world. Blast furnaces and electric arc furnaces are present everywhere, all over the world. There is worldwide 1.9 billion tonnes of crude steel produced per annum. UK in 2020 (then still a EU member state) was the 8th largest steel producer in the European union, which produced in total >150 million tonnes of steel in 2019, only 8% of the world total. Japan alone produced roughly 100 million tonnes, while the biggest steel producing country is currently China, which accounted for above 50% of world steel production in 2020. Globally, the steel industry emits 25% of all industrial greenhouse gases, which is more than any other industrial sector.
“The construction sector is the largest steel using sector and that is not likely to change. It accounts for more than 50% of the world steel demand, with the other major uses being the manufacture of vehicles, industrial equipment and final goods. The global population is forecast to increase to more than 9 billion people over the next 40 years. The population growth rate in Europe (and the UK) is only expected to start decreasing slightly by 2050. And, by then, about 75% will live in cities (~50% today). We still have to build the buildings and infrastructures for these cities and replace those that are damaged. When our country needs more and more new homes, new buildings, new infrastructure, we will have to go higher, more slender and leaner in dense populated areas and the need for ultra-strong and highly ductile materials like steel will become increasingly pressing.
“Steel is indefinitely recyclable, and, while it is recycled, it does not lose its performance which is an extraordinary ability inexplicably often ignored. It isn’t the case of most construction materials: other than steel, aluminium or stainless steel, you can only recycle glass indefinitely provided that you sort the type of glass appropriately. Steel is not just downcycled into a less noble material, just like an old jewel can be turned into a new one, steel can be melted over and over again.
“Recycled steel is one of the industry’s most important raw materials. We have accumulated almost 1 billion tonnes of steel only in the UK, all of which must be recycled, and, today, we generate about 10 million tonnes of scrap a year. Studies show that in the next 10-15 years, that availability of steel scrap will rise from 10 million to 20 million tonnes (global flow of steel scrap are likely to treble in the next 30 years) because all the steel made in the past will be recycled. In 2018, in Europe, this exceeded 110 million tonnes, showing that there is no scrap shortage. Despite its weak position in the scene of steel production, this is one of the advantages by which the UK could profit in the current global change of steel production.
“We have already produced the steel that we will need tomorrow. With increased availability of scrap and under our nation’s commitment to cut its domestic emissions by 2050, we can anticipate a global shift from blast furnace to electric arc furnace production. Roughly 2/3 of today’s liquid steel is made from iron ore, with the rest made from scrap, but at present >50% of the scrap originates from the manufacturing process, rather than from end-of-life recuperation. This is even though (1) on average, steel products have an approximate life horizon of 35-40 years, before being scrapped, and (2), apart from ~10% of steel that is buried (e.g., oil pipes or in building foundations), most end-of-life steel can be easily collected for recycling. Even if the total demand for steel production will increase, one can demonstrate that if most old steel is recycled, future requirements could be met entirely through increased production from scrap via electric arc furnaces. In America today, >50% of all domestic steel demand is already made by recycling domestic scrap. And since steel recycling causes significantly less greenhouse gas emissions than blast furnaces (topped by the fact that the UK already produces low emissions electricity grid, with high potential for further improvement, so recycling steel in the UK today leads to a reduction in emissions of > 2/3 compared to global average primary steel), UK need for steel recycling can be expected to grow significantly and rapidly. This will increase with more renewable generation capacity and will grow strategically important as global pressure to alleviate climate change increases.
“UK’s commitment to decarbonization need to address the emissions which are released from within UK borders. Although closing steel plants in the UK would lead to a reduction in the emissions, our future demand for steel may lead to higher global emissions if the emissions intensity in other countries is greater than that in the UK. Rather than providing extensive efforts in technologies allowing reduced emissions in primary production which require major capital investment, a more effective contribution to global mitigation would be to produce our domestic steel through electric arc furnaces combined with a massive decrease of their emissions which are directly linked to the emissions intensity of local electricity generation.
“There is nonetheless a technical limitation on the extent to which scrap can be substituted for iron ore: contaminants. Scrap composed of large pieces such as that from construction, have well controlled composition while scrap collecting from mixed waste streams have higher levels of contamination. The latter is usually sourced when scrap prices are high. As a consequence of contamination, the degree to which recycled steel can replace primary steel is capped by the inability of (a) imperfect control of metal composition in scrap steel collection and (b) today’s technologies to adjust the chemical composition of liquid steel produced with electric arc furnaces. Therefore, steel scrap supplies have to date been mostly absorbed by the lowest grade products (such as reinforcement bars).
“It is possible to vaporise unwanted metal contaminants from liquid steel by vacuum arc re-melting. This is already a commercial strength in the UK and used for making some of the highest quality steels for e.g., aerospace components. The innovation opportunity is to replicate this success at higher speed and lower cost. Other processes than vacuum arc re-melting have been tested in research laboratories but were abandoned due to lack of economic incentive. The UK, with its high volumes of scrap and its commitment to act on climate mitigation is well placed to lead the development of these technologies.
“We cannot replace steel, it’s ridiculously cheap, ultra-strong and highly ductile, and completely recyclable, fitting into any story about a circular economy. Not a single construction material taken alone can compete with steel today. But we can produce low carbon steel and build better structures, lasting longer, not harming our environment. If UK would recycle its own scrap to deliver high-quality steel satisfying its domestic demand in a closed loop it would lead to massive decrease of UK Iron and Steel emissions. This necessitates to (a) establish low-carbon steelmaking plants based on electric arc furnace, (b) develop technologies to make high quality steel from recycled scrap, i.e., examine and mitigate the causes of scrap contamination and develop the opportunities to control the chemical composition of liquid steel made via electric arc furnace, and (c) develop innovative business models to allow UK downstream steel supply-chains to prosper.”
Declared interests
Dr Julian Steer: in receipt of funding from British Steel to measure, and optimise, the performance and selection of their injection coals.
For all other experts, no reply to our request for DOIs was received.
CALGARY, Alberta, April 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. (TSXV: CMC; OTC PINK: CWSFF) (“Cielo” or the “Company”) today provides an update on certain business and corporate matters.
Corporate Update Webinar
Cielo is pleased to announce that the corporate update webinar (the “Webinar”) with CEO Ryan C. Jackson and CFO Jasdeep K. B. Dhaliwal, as previously announced on April 1, 2025, and re-scheduled on April 9, 2025, will now take place on April 17, 2025. The Webinar will provide Cielo’s shareholders and stakeholders with updates on the Company’s strategic initiatives and future outlook.
Webinar Details
Date: Thursday, April 17, 2025 Time: 2:00PM Mountain Standard Time RegistrationLink: Cielo Webinar (Posted on the Cielo Website under News and Media)
Duration: 1 Hour
A recording of the Webinar will be made available on Cielo’s website following the event.
Corporate Strategy
As previously announced on April 1, 2025, Cielo intends to relocate its first planned commercial waste-to-fuel facility for the processing of scrap railway ties from Carseland, Alberta to British Columbia, and transition fuel to be produced from renewable diesel to green hydrogen. This strategic pivot allows Cielo to explore funding opportunities through the British Columbia Low Carbon Fuel Standard (BCLCFS) credit program as well as revises the Company’s approach as the demand for renewable fuels changes to better meet market demand.
Cielo continues to be engaged in advanced discussions with a technology provider on a project in British Columbia that will utilize scrap railway ties as feedstock to produce green hydrogen for use in the British Columbia market and is pleased to announce that it has also identified two proposed additional projects for development in the United States.
Cielo is excited to continue executing its broader strategy of providing solutions that address processing waste into useful products, including in green hydrogen, renewable natural gas and other low-carbon initiatives. Cielo continues to explore other projects and funding partners to drive its commitment to innovation and environmental sustainability and achieve success in the short-term and sustainable profitable growth in the long-term. Further updates will be provided in the Webinar.
Dispute Resolution
As previously announced on April 1, 2025, as a result of recent disagreements between Cielo and Expander Energy Inc. (“Expander”) on various matters, the Company notified Expander of the Company’s intentions to initiate a dispute resolution process in accordance with a licence agreement (“License Agreement”) between the Company and Expander. Cielo had previously received notices of breach from Expander with regard to the License Agreement as well as an asset purchase agreement and a management services agreement (“Management Services Agreement”), each between the Company and Expander, which notices had, among other things, announced Expander’s intentions to terminate the License Agreement.
On April 11, 2025, Cielo received termination notices (“Termination Notices”) from Expander terminating both the License Agreement and the Management Services Agreement, effective immediately. Concurrently, Cielo also received statements of claim (“Statements of Claim”) from Expander in connection with the License Agreement, the Management Services Agreement and a supply and services agreement between the Company and Expander. Cielo is in the process of reviewing the contents of the Termination Notices and the Statements of Claim and is working diligently with legal and other professional advisors with respect to same to ensure the interests of shareholders are protected.
Cielo will continue to provide material updates as they become available. As previously announced on April 9, 2025, Cielo has retained Norton Rose Fulbright Canada LLP as legal advisor.
ABOUT CIELO
Cielo Waste Solutions Corp. is a publicly traded company focused on transforming waste materials into high-value renewable fuels. Cielo seeks to address global waste challenges while contributing to the circular economy and reducing carbon emissions. Cielo is fueling renewable change with a mission to be a leader in the wood by-product-to-fuels industry by using environmentally friendly, economically sustainable and market-ready technologies. Cielo is committed to helping society ‘change the fuel, not the vehicle’, which the Company believes will contribute to generating positive returns for shareholders. Cielo shares are listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol “CMC,” as well as on the OTC Pink Market under the symbol “CWSFF.”
For further information please contact:
Cielo Investor Relations
Ryan C. Jackson, CEO Phone: (403) 348-2972 Email: investors@cielows.com
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Minister-President of the German State of Bavaria, Markus Söder called on Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences; reiterates strong collaboration between the two nations Long – standing Indo-German cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), underlines the potential for bilateral cooperation, says Dr Jitendra Singh
India and Germany to Deepen Cooperation in AI, Quantum Tech, Clean Energy, and Biotechnology
Dr. Jitendra Singh Hails Indo-German 2+2 University and Industry Collaboration
Highlights India emergence in Space, Nuclear and Biotech and next generation technologies such as AI, Quantum technologies
Posted On: 13 APR 2025 4:21PM by PIB Delhi
In a significant diplomatic and scientific engagement, Minister-President of the German State of Bavaria, Markus Söder called on Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science & Technology, Earth Sciences, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, and reiterated strong collaboration between the two nations.
One to one bilateral between the two leaders, was followed by high-level delegation level meeting led by the two Ministers
Welcoming the high-level German delegation, Dr. Jitendra Singh emphasized the long-standing Indo-German cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI), underlining the potential for bilateral cooperation in priority areas including Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Technologies, Biotechnology, Clean Energy, Electric Mobility, Cyber-Physical Systems, and Green Hydrogen.
“India has embarked on mission-mode programs under the visionary leadership of Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. We seek economic and sustainable solutions through scientific and technological interventions, and Germany is a natural partner in this endeavor,” stated Dr. Jitendra Singh.
Dr. Jitendra Singh applauded the Indo-German 2+2 collaboration model involving joint efforts between academia and industry from both countries, calling it a landmark step toward creating future-ready, innovation-driven ecosystems.“The 2+2 collaboration is a futuristic model. It brings together universities and industries from both countries to solve global challenges through innovation, co-development, and commercialization,” Dr. Jitendra Singh said.
Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled the Golden Jubilee of Indo-German S&T Partnership celebrated last year, adding that the recent Indo-German S&T Governing Body Meeting in Germany further reinforced the commitment to deepen scientific engagement. He highlighted the shared cultural and intellectual legacy between the two nations, mentioning Max Mueller’s pioneering translation of the Upanishads and the Rigveda, which laid the foundation for Indo-European scholarly ties.
Dr. Jitendra Singh spotlighted India’s remarkable progress in the biotech sector, boasting over 3000 startups and leading globally as the largest vaccine manufacturer. He noted the significance of the recently approved BIOe3 policy, which focuses on Energy, Economy, and Employment to drive the next wave of biotech innovation.
Dr. Jitendra Singh outlined India’s emergence as a biotech powerhouse with over 3000 startups and the recent launch of the BIOe3 policy, aimed at driving Energy, Economy, and Employment through biotech innovation.
The Science and Technology Minister states that India’s Space-Tech and Nuclear sectors, now open to private players, offer tremendous collaborative opportunities. He further stated that India ranks 3rd globally in startups and unicorns, making it a vibrant destination for tech partnerships.
“India’s academic outreach to Germany continues to deepen, with over 50,000 Indian students enrolled in German universities—mostly in STEM disciplines—a number that has tripled in the last seven years”, says Dr. Singh
Dr. Jitendra Singh called for a reciprocal increase in German students studying in India, particularly in the areas of Oriental Studies, Indian Culture, and Traditional Knowledge Systems.
“Germany has emerged as a favoured academic destination for Indian youth. Now we hope to see more German students exploring India’s intellectual heritage and scientific capabilities,” he said.
Dr. Jitendra Singh fondly recalled his recent visit to Berlin, observing the growing popularity of Indian cuisine and culture, with locals enthusiastically embracing Indian flavours in more than a dozen Indian food outlets.
The German side was represented by Dr. Markus Söder, along with Dr. Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador to India, and other senior delegates. From the Indian side, Dr. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology (DST); Dr. Praveen Somasundaram, Head of International Cooperation, and Dr. Alka Sharma, Senior Advisor,Department of Biotechnology, also participated in the deliberations.
BEIJING, April 13, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As the only Chinese central enterprise participating in exhibitions at the China Pavilion during Expo 2025, China Energy Engineering Corp Ltd, or CEEC, is showcasing its eight-network integrated future city development solution in the China Pavilion at Expo 2025, which officially opened in Osaka on April 13. In the “Smart Future City” exhibit, CEEC highlights the latest milestones in Chinese-style modernization and contributes to a global vision for sustainable development in collaboration with countries around the world.
Held under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, Expo 2025 has drawn participation from over 150 countries, regions, and international organizations. The China Pavilion, one of the largest foreign self-built pavilions in terms of land area, is themed “Building a Community of Life for Man And Nature — Future Society of Green Development”. It displays traditional ecological wisdom cultivated over 5,000 years of Chinese civilization and showcases the concepts and accomplishments of green development in the new era.
In the “Endless Vitality” exhibition section of the pavilion, CEEC’s smart city display is centered around its eight-network integrated future city development solution. Closely aligned with the “future society” theme, the exhibit emphasizes immersion, interactivity, and engagement.
Using model sand tables, 3D video, interactive multimedia, and other methods, the company has created a thematic light show that fuses digital innovation, green revolution, and cultural heritage, according to Chu Xinyan, manager of the brand management and convergence media department at CEEC.
This presentation showcases China’s breakthroughs and applications in frontier technologies such as clean energy, artificial intelligence, smart transportation, zero-carbon buildings, and low-altitude economy.
Song Hailiang, board chairman and executive director of CEEC, stated that the company is committed to “building livable, resilient, and smart cities”.
Leveraging its strengths, CEEC has creatively proposed the eight-network integrated future city development solution. This solution systematically integrates eight elements: the energy network, transportation network, digital network, water network, ecological network, industrial network, health network, and cultural network.
“Through ongoing fusion, transformation, and iterative upgrades, the solution enables these networks to deeply integrate, interact, and coexist, thereby enhancing the city’s economic efficiency, ecological resilience, and cultural vitality in multiple dimensions,” Song said.
During the exhibition, CEEC presents its integrated city development solution featuring more than 10 cutting-edge clean energy technologies. These include marine energy integration, compressed air energy storage power stations, high-altitude wind power generation, and solar thermal power. “These new technologies offer a Chinese answer to global energy transformation,” said Chu.
In Yingcheng, Hubei province, CEEC has successfully put into operation the world’s first 300-megawatt compressed air energy storage demonstration project, setting three world records in unit power capacity, storage scale, and conversion efficiency.
In Songyuan, Jilin province, the company’s investment in the world’s largest integrated green hydrogen-ammonia-methanol project is set to go into operation this year.
In Jixi county, Anhui province, CEEC has successfully generated electricity with the country’s first grid-connectable megawatt-level high-altitude wind power demonstration project.
The company is also developing a series of projects that fully tap into energy area, including wind power, photovoltaic power, solar thermal power, nuclear power, hydrogen power.
Energy China is a comprehensive group enterprise that provides holistic solutions and full industrial chain services for global energy, power, and infrastructure sectors, with operations in more than 140 countries and regions.
In recent years, the company has focused on promoting four key transformations: innovation-driven development, green and low-carbon strategies, digital intelligence, and shared integration. It is cultivating future industries and actively developing new quality productive forces, contributing Chinese solutions to the global energy transition, sustainable development, and the building of a community with a shared future for mankind, according to Chu.
Company: China Energy Engineering Group Co., Ltd.(ENERGY CHINA) Contact Person: Chu Xinyan Email: xychu2489@ceec.net.cn Website: http://en.ceec.net.cn/ Telephone: 186 1109 6653 City: Beijing
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Electric vehicles take advantage of the ACT’s 100 per cent renewable electricity supply to help reduce emissions from transport.
In brief:
The ACT Government has added 10 more electric vehicles to its fleet.
Electric vehicles are better for the environment and cheaper to run.
Making your next car electric could save you money.
Canberra continues to lead the nation in supporting the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs).
About 10 new electric vehicles are coming onto ACT roads every day. In fact, you might spot a few new ACT Government EVs out and about this spring, including:
a ute
two tipper trucks
a litter picking truck
a delivery van.
These vehicles will join the City Services fleet as a trial to see how the ACT Government can continue to provide essential services in a more environmentally friendly way. An additional four electric passenger vehicles have also joined the fleet in the past month. These vehicles join more than 400 electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen fuel cell vehicles already in the ACT Government fleet.
The trial will showcase the variety and availability of EVs for commercial use and promote their benefits to local industry and community. The new vehicles have been funded through the ACT Government’s Social Cost of Carbon Fund and Zero Emission Government Fund. These funds aim to reduce emissions produced by government activity.
Making the switch
Zero emission vehicles, like EVs, are better for the environment and quieter than petrol and diesel vehicles. They’re also much more affordable to run.
Making your next car electric could save you around $18,000 in running costs over 10 years. It could also reduce your greenhouse gas emissions by around 3 tonnes per year.
The ACT Government offers multiple incentives for people and businesses when they purchase an EV. And with new public chargers being installed all over the city, charging your EV is quick and easy.
Canberran’s are embracing EVs at a rapid pace, with over 9,100 EVs currently registered. If you’re thinking about making your next car electric, but not sure where to start, check out this handy guide on EVs for beginners.
Transport contributes over 60 per cent of the ACT’s emissions. This means electric vehicles have the potential to make a big difference as the ACT continues towards our goals of net zero emissions by 2045.
For more information about zero emissions vehicles in the ACT, visit the Everyday Climate Choices website.
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Pacific climate activists this week handed a letter from civil society to this year’s United Nations climate conference hosts, Brazil, emphasising their demands for the end of fossil fuels and transition to renewable energy.
More than 180 indigenous, youth, and environmental organisations from across the world have signed the letter, coordinated by the campaign organisation, 350.org.
A declaration of alliance between Indigenous peoples from the Amazon, the Pacific, and Australia ahead of COP30 has also been announced.
The “strongly worded letter” was handed to COP30 President André Corrêa do Lago and Brazil’s Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva who attended the Acampamento Terra Livre (ATL), or Free Land Camp, in Brasília.
“We, climate and social justice organisations from around the world, urgently demand that COP30 renews the global commitment and supports implementation for the just, orderly, and equitable transition away from fossil fuels towards renewable energy,” the letter states.
“This must ensure that solutions progressively meet the needs of Indigenous, Black, marginalised and vulnerable populations and accelerate the expansion of renewables in a way that ensures the world’s wealthiest and most polluting nations pay their fair share, does not harm nature, increase deforestation by burning biomass, while upholding economic, social, and gender justice.”
‘No room for new coal mines’ It adds: “The science is unequivocal: there is no room for new coal mines or oil and gas fields if the world is to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius — especially in critical ecosystems like the Amazon, where COP30 will be hosted.
“Tripling renewables by 2030 is essential, but without a managed and rapid phaseout of fossil fuels, it won’t be enough.”
350.org’s Fiji community organiser, George Nacewa, said it was now up to the Brazil COP Presidency if they would act “or lock us into climate catastrophe”.
“This is a critical time for our people — the age of deliberation is long past,” Nacewa said on behalf of the group that call themselves “Pacific Climate Warriors”.
“We need this COP to be the one that spearheads the Just Energy Transition from words to action.”
COP30 will take place in Belém, Brazil, from November 10-21.
This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.
The swirling, paint-like clouds in the darkness of space in this stunning image seem surreal, like a portal to another world opening up before us. In fact, the subject of this NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image is very real. We are seeing vast clouds of ionized atoms and molecules, thrown into space by a dying star. This is a planetary nebula named Kohoutek 4-55, a member of the Milky Way galaxy situated just 4,600 light-years away in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan). Planetary nebulae are the spectacular final display at the end of a giant star’s life. Once a red giant star has exhausted its available fuel and shed its last layers of gas, its compact core will contract further, enabling a final burst of nuclear fusion. The exposed core reaches extremely hot temperatures, radiating ultraviolet light that energizes the enormous clouds of gas cast off by the star. The ultraviolet light ionizes atoms in the gas, making the clouds glow brightly. In this image, red and orange indicate nitrogen, green is hydrogen, and blue shows oxygen. Kohoutek 4-55 has an uncommon, multi-layered form: a faint layer of gas surrounds a bright inner ring, all wrapped in a broad halo of ionized nitrogen. The spectacle is bittersweet, as the brief phase of fusion in the core will end after only tens of thousands of years, leaving a white dwarf that will never illuminate the clouds around it again. This image itself was also the final work of one of Hubble’s instruments: the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Installed in 1993 to replace the original Wide Field and Planetary Camera, WFPC2 was responsible for some of Hubble’s most enduring images and fascinating discoveries. Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3 replaced WFPC2 in 2009, during Hubble’s final servicing mission. A mere ten days before astronauts removed Hubble’s WFPC2 from the telescope, the instrument collected the data used in this image: a fitting send-off after 16 years of discoveries. Image processors used the latest and most advanced processing techniques to bring the data to life one more time, producing this breathtaking new view of Kohoutek 4-55.
Headline: Alberta bill enables hydrogen home heating, electricity market remodeling
“We promised a zero congestion system, meaning that every generator should be able to get their electricity to market, and that’s not the case anymore,” said Vittoria Bellissimo, the president of the Canadian Renewable Energy Association. Read more.
The post Alberta bill enables hydrogen home heating, electricity market remodeling appeared first on Canadian Renewable Energy Association.
Italy’s Minister of University and Research Ms Anna Maria Bernini calls on Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh The two Ministers discuss deepening collaboration in Quantum Technologies, AI, and Biotechnology
Dr Jitendra Singh recalls bilateral discussions between PM Modi and PM Meloni on the sidelines of G20 Summit in Brazil
India and Italy Sign MoU to Boost Cooperation in Science and Technology
Indo-Italian programme to include 10 research initiatives and 10 collaborative initiatives
Posted On: 11 APR 2025 3:25PM by PIB Delhi
In a significant move to enhance bilateral scientific cooperation, Italy’s Minister of University and Research, Ms. Anna Maria Bernini, currently on India visit, called on Dr. Jitendra Singh, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology, Earth Sciences, and Minister of State for PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions, Dept. of Space, Dept. of Atomic Energy met with Italy’s Minister of University and Research, Ms. Anna Maria Bernini, for a high-level meeting at North Block here.
The hallmark of the meeting was the signing of an MoU of cooperation by the two Ministers. The discussions between the two dignitaries centered on advancing joint initiatives in quantum technologies, artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and other emerging sectors.
Dr. Jitendra Singh recalled the bilateral discussions between Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni held on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil, which culminated in the announcement of a Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025–2029. The plan outlines a shared vision for collaborative innovation in science and technology.
As part of this vision, both nations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in the field of scientific research and agreed to implement the 2025–2027 Executive Programme for Scientific and Technological Cooperation, aimed at fostering collaboration in critical technologies like AI and digitalization.
Reaffirming India’s commitment to bilateral research, Dr. Jitendra Singh announced the signing of the Indo-Italian Executive Programme of Cooperation (EPOC) for 2025–2027 on 10th April 2025 during the Joint Science & Technology Committee Meeting.Under the EPOC framework, both countries have successfully implemented over 150 joint research projects to date.
The current programme includes joint funding for 10 research mobility proposals and 10 significant collaborative research initiatives across a wide range of scientific disciplines.
Dr. Jitendra Singh highlighted India’s robust progress in areas such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), High-Performance Computing (HPC), Big Data, and biotechnology. He noted that India’s strategic investments and policies are steering the nation toward becoming a global hub of emerging technologies.
Sharing key achievements, Dr. Jitendra Singh mentioned about India’s pioneering development of a DNA-based COVID-19 vaccine, which was later gifted to many countries in need.The development and launch of the HPV vaccine and Nafithromycin, an indigenous antibiotic for respiratory infections.The country’s first-ever gene therapy trial, which has been a success.The creation of a national genome data bank to support personalized medicine and public health research.
Dr. Jitendra Singh proudly referenced India’s vibrant startup ecosystem, now the third largest globally, with significant contributions from agro-biotech startups. Initiatives such as the Aroma Mission (also known as the Purple Revolution) exemplify innovation in agriculture and floriculture.
He also highlighted the impact of technology-driven schemes like the Soil Health Card and Swamitva Yojana, which have revolutionized agriculture through drone technology.
Reflecting India’s commitment to preserving ancient wisdom through modern science, Dr. Singh spoke of the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL) — a unique initiative that digitizes and protects traditional Indian knowledge using cutting-edge technology.
Dr. Jitendra Singh, also the Minister of Earth Sciences, briefed the delegation about India’s ambitious Deep Ocean Mission, which aims to send an Indian submersible 6,000 meters deep into the ocean. The trial dive up to 500 meters is set to commence next year.
Both countries reiterated their commitment to long-standing cooperation in fields such as Infectious diseases, Quantum technologies, green hydrogen and renewable energy, Cultural heritage preservation technologies and Sustainable Blue Economy.
They also agreed to explore new collaborative areas such as Industry 4.0, Clean energy.
Dr. Jitendra Singh also identified other mutual sectors, including academic and industrial partnerships involving SMEs and startups from both nations.
Dr. Rajesh Gokhale, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology and Prof. Abhay Karandikar, Secretary, Department of Science and Technology were also part of the high-level meet.
Source: United States Senator for Louisiana Bill Cassidy
WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy, M.D. (R-LA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) introduced the latest version of the Foreign Pollution Fee Act to level the playing field for American manufacturers and workers by holding non-market economies like China accountable for their unfair trade practices. The legislation puts America’s efficient manufacturers at the center of industrial strategy, strengthening our economic resilience, reducing supply chain dependence on adversaries, and rewarding innovation in production. The original Foreign Pollution Fee Act was updated this year to incorporate feedback received during a public comment period.
“Other countries can decrease their cost of manufacturing by 20 percent by not enforcing the laws we take for granted. This means they take our jobs too. This is wrong,” said Dr. Cassidy. “It’s time the U.S. promotes fair trade, preserves jobs in Louisiana and elsewhere, and revives American manufacturing. That helps fulfill President Trump’s goal of rebuilding the Golden Age.”
“It is long past time that the polluters of the world, like China and others, pay a price for their policies. This bill calls out the foreign polluters and rewards American businesses who are doing the right thing,” said Senator Graham. “We are leveling the playing field, and American manufacturers and business will be the biggest beneficiaries.”
The Foreign Pollution Fee Act:
Combats China’s Exploitation of Trade Rules: This policy will level the playing field for U.S. businesses by countering the unfair practices of non-market economies like China, ensuring American manufacturers can compete and thrive.
Strengthens Global Supply Chain Resilience: Diversifying trade relationships will reduce dependence on adversarial nations, making supply chains more secure against geopolitical disruptions and enhancing national security.
Revitalizes American Manufacturing: By discouraging imports of pollution-intensive goods, this policy will bring jobs back home, strengthen domestic industries, and reduce reliance on foreign suppliers.
Expands U.S. Export Markets: As high-polluting countries modernize their industries, they’ll increasingly demand American-made inputs, feedstocks, and cutting-edge technologies, opening new opportunities for U.S. exports.
Deepens Trade Ties with Allies: By promoting partnerships with nations that share our economic and environmental values, this policy builds a coalition against predatory practices by the Chinese Communist Party, supporting emerging markets and allies alike.
Rewards Leadership in Cleaner Manufacturing: The policy incentivizes international partners to adopt cleaner production methods while ensuring that domestic manufacturers maintain a competitive edge by continuing to lead in industrial decarbonization.
Industry sectors covered by the Foreign Pollution Fee Act include iron, steel, aluminum, cement, glass, fertilizer, hydrogen, solar components, and certain battery inputs.
Background
Cassidy and Graham introduced an earlier version of their Foreign Pollution Fee Act to level the playing field with Chinese manufacturing and expand American production in 2023. Earlier this year, Cassidy released a new video featuring vocal support from several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees for the Foreign Pollution Fee Act.
The Foreign Pollution Fee Act was a key topic at Cassidy’s Louisiana Energy Security Summit in October 2024.The summit featured ten panels that explored protecting U.S. interests from unfair trade practices, Louisiana’s low-pollution manufacturing advantage, and the role of natural gas in strengthening U.S. geopolitical influence. Panelists included presidents and CEOs from Entergy, First Solar, Buzzi UnicemUSA, Orsted, and Aluminum Technologies, former Trump administration officials, and leaders from Louisiana trade associations and major energy and Fortune 500 companies.
In September 2024, he released the 3rd episode of Bill on the Hill, where he highlights his Foreign Pollution Fee Act and discusses China’s growing economy and military coming at the expense of the American worker. After hearing fellow Americans share their concerns, Cassidy presented his plan to address the nexus between economic development, national security, and the environment.
He penned editorials in Foreign Affairs, The Washington Times, and jointly in the USA Today Network discussing the geopolitical threat that China poses to U.S. global standing.
In 2023, the Louisiana Senate and House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution urging Congress to pursue an industrial manufacturing and trade policy to counter competition from China.
The Foreign Pollution Fee Act is supported by a variety of key industry and advocacy stakeholders including: Steel Manufacturers Association, U.S. OCTG Manufacturers Association (USOMA), Portland Cement Association, Solar Energy Manufacturers for America (SEMA) Coalition, Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance, America First Policy Institute, Carbon Removal Alliance, Heirloom, Climeworks, Climate Leadership Council, Cleaner Economy Coalition (CEC), the Industrial Innovation Initiative (I3), Rainey Center Freedom Project, RepublicEN.org, Carbon Upcycling, Ceres, SAFE’s Center for Strategic Industrial Materials, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, ElementUSA, and Evangelical Environmental Network.
“The Steel Manufacturers Association thanks Senator Cassidy and Senator Graham for introducing the Foreign Pollution Fee Act. This critical legislation will provide another strong path to ensuring fair trade. America has a tremendous competitive advantage because of its lower emissions manufacturing processes. We make the cleanest steel in the world. This is because the United States lets markets choose the most efficient production technologies and raw materials. However, poor overseas environmental standards, compliance, and enforcement creates an artificial advantage in trade that harms American producers and workers,” said Philip K. Bell, President of the Steel Manufacturers Association. “Current U.S. trade countermeasures are not specifically designed to address unfair trade practices related to the environment. Imposing a fee on foreign pollution helps monetize our environmental advantage and level the playing field. We look forward to working with Senators Cassidy and Graham on the Foreign Pollution Fee Act to support American jobs and competitiveness.”
“The SEMA Coalition supports Senator Cassidy’s 2025 Foreign Pollution Fee Act. For American solar manufacturers to compete on a level playing field and outcompete China, we need innovative border measures such as a foreign pollution fee. Any successful, long-term strategy to reshore the solar value chain must prioritize taking these steps to safeguard the domestic solar industry from the impacts of global overcapacity,” said Mike Carr, Executive Director of the SEMA Coalition. “We are grateful for Senator Cassidy’s leadership and look forward to working closely with him and the administration to advance trade and tax policies that ensure a level playing field with China and longevity for U.S. solar manufacturers and workers.”
“The Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance congratulates Senators Cassidy and Graham on the introduction of the Foreign Pollution Fee Act of 2025 and is proud to endorse the bill. The members of the Alliance are demonstrating that with the right policy mix U.S. manufacturers can claw back critical energy supply chains in the face of Chinese over subsidization and product dumping,” said Michael Parr, Executive Director of the Ultra Low Carbon Solar Alliance. “In recent years we have begun to re-establish U.S. solar manufacturing at scale, providing a secure supply of U.S. energy generation, bolstering U.S. energy dominance and security. Because solar manufacturing in China is twice as polluting as in the U.S., the Foreign Pollution Fee Act will provide a critical backstop against China’s ongoing efforts to evade U.S.tariffs, helping to ensure that America’s fastest growing form of energy generation continues to use U.S. made solar products.”
“The cement industry supports policies that protect domestic manufacturers through robust trade mechanisms and data collection. Sen. Cassidy’s Foreign Pollution Fee Act is very thoughtful, pragmatic legislation that will highlight the carbon advantage of U.S. manufacturers and level the playing field against more carbon-intensive foreign imports,” said Sean O’Neill, Senior Vice President of Government Affairs for Portland Cement Association.
“The Foreign Pollution Fee Act would create a fairer market for domestic manufacturers and foster innovation in the U.S.,” said Giana Amador, Executive Director of the Carbon Removal Alliance. “We commend Senator Cassidy for his leadership in protecting American entrepreneurs and advancing a homegrown carbon removal industry poised to generate jobs and billions in economic growth nationwide.”
“In the global race to lead the industries of the future, it’s wrong to let U.S. manufacturers be undercut by countries that ignore the high standards our businesses uphold,” said Vikrum Aiyer, Head of Public Policy for Heirloom. “The Foreign Pollution Fee Act levels the playing field and makes it a fair fight—and in a fair fight, America wins, thanks to homegrown innovations like direct air capture that can mitigate the impact of our competitors flouting environmental standards, all while ensuring America remains the most competitive place in the world. We’re proud to be investing in such technologies in Louisiana to produce new energy solutions and carbon management tools, creating thousands of jobs to service nearly half a billion dollars in customer contracts and growing, as we onshore U.S. innovation to leverage the American advantage and strengthen our energy security.”
“The Foreign Pollution Fee Act is an important way to protect and expand U.S. manufacturers’ strategic advantage in meeting rising global demand for decarbonized goods and services. Climeworks is proud to support Senator Cassidy’s initiative, which we believe will strengthen vital supply chain resilience,” said Daniel Nathan, Chief Project Development Officer for Climeworks.
“ElementUSA strongly supports your foreign pollution fee legislation, which levels the playing field for responsibly produced domestic minerals. By incentivizing cleaner supply chains, this policy directly advances our mission to reprocess industrial waste and reshore critical minerals using low-emission technologies. It empowers U.S. innovators like us to compete globally while turning legacy environmental liabilities into valuable, sustainable resources,” said Chris Young, Chief Strategy Officer for ElementUSA.
“Senator Cassidy’s introduction of the Foreign Pollution Fee Act is a significant step forward in capitalizing on U.S. industry’s superior environmental performance and creating a more level playing field for years to come. By rewarding American firms for their lower pollution and holding higher emitters accountable, we will boost U.S. manufacturers, create more jobs, and secure critical supply chains,” said Greg Bertelsen, CEO for Climate Leadership Council. “The Council looks forward to working with Senator Cassidy and a growing coalition of stakeholders to advance a foreign pollution fee as a tool for leveraging America’s carbon advantage, strengthening the U.S. economy, and reducing global emissions.”
“Citizens’ Climate Lobby welcomes the re-introduction of the Foreign Pollution Fee Act by Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC). Foreign polluters should be held accountable for the climate impacts of their exports to the U.S., and this bill takes a critical step in ensuring that imported goods reflect their true carbon cost. By requiring robust emissions accounting for foreign imports, the legislation promotes transparency and fairness in global trade. We are pleased to see this important bill reintroduced and our grassroots volunteers nationwide will be working toward its passage in Congress,” said Jennifer Tyler, VP of Government Affairs for Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
“As a consensus-based coalition of industry, labor, and nonprofit leaders, the Industrial Innovation Initiative (I3) applauds Senator Cassidy’s ongoing commitment to American industry and congratulates him on this comprehensive effort to prioritize American workers, U.S. manufacturing, and a strong economy while reducing industrial emissions,” said David Soll, Industrial Decarbonization Manager for Great Plains Institute.
“Senator Cassidy’s Foreign Pollution Fee is a bold America First solution that puts U.S. workers and manufacturers first—not China. It’s time we stop rewarding hostile regimes for cutting corners and start leveling the playing field for the American companies doing it right,” said Sarah Hunt, President for Rainey Center Freedom Project.
“The Foreign Pollution Fee Act would bring accountability for dumping trash into the sky. That accountability would simultaneously level the playing field and spawn worldwide innovation,” said former U.S. Representative Bob Inglis (R-SC-04), Executive Director for RepublicEN.org.
“The Foreign Pollution Fee Act aims to support the U.S. cement industry’s continued investment in innovative production technologies that lead to cleaner, more sustainable building materials,” said Juliane Kniebel-Huebner, COO for Carbon Upcycling. “We are grateful for Senator Cassidy’s leadership and look forward to working with him and our industry partners to continue to bolster the competitiveness of U.S. cement manufacturers.”
“Ceres applauds the introduction of a foreign polluter fee in the U.S. Senate as a fair, predictable, and congressionally approved approach to global trade. This legislation would leverage U.S. trade and industrial policy to ensure the nation’s leadership in clean manufacturing and other key 21st century industries remain an advantage against China and other competitors, to the benefit of U.S. economic, geopolitical, and national security interests,” said Zach Friedman, Senior Director of Federal Policy for Ceres.
“For too long, American industry has been competing on an uneven playing field on the global stage while bad actors like the Chinese Communist Party have adhered to unacceptably low standards to outcompete us on cost,” said Joe Quinn, Executive Director of SAFE’s Center for Strategic Industrial Materials. “By turning that uneven playing field into a competitive advantage for industries like batteries, steel, and aluminum that are critical to both national and energy security, the Foreign Pollution Fee Act will make the U.S. more self-reliant and restructure markets to reward innovation, not pollution.”
“The Foreign Pollution Fee Act of 2025 delivers a three-fold win, defending the health of our children from harmful pollution, protecting the livelihoods of American workers, and leveling the playing field for American firms leading the way in clean manufacturing. The majority of products named in the Foreign Pollution Fee Act are powered by or directly utilize mercury-containing coal for production. While the United States reined in harmful mercury pollution a decade ago, other countries like China have no such protections on the books. China is responsible for 25-30% of the world’s mercury emissions, and unfortunately, air pollution doesn’t recognize national boundaries. Mercury pollution from coal combustion in China travels across the Pacific and is deposited in American oceans, lakes, and streams, resulting in widespread fish consumption advisories and continued risk of mercury-induced brain damage to our children, especially those in Alaska and our Western states. The Foreign Pollution Fee Act will help create the healthy environment and bright future that all God’s children, both here in the United States and across the world, deserve by ensuring foreign manufacturers finally clean up their act. On behalf of our children, we thank Senators Bill Cassidy (R-LA) and Lindsay Graham (R- SC) for their leadership advancing this critical bill,” said Reverend Dr. Jessica Moerman, President & CEO for the Evangelical Environmental Network.
“Senator Cassidy’s introduction of the Foreign Pollution Fee Act opens the door for Congress to advance a critical tool for supporting American manufacturers—who are among the cleanest and most innovative in the world. A foreign pollution fee would create a fairer playing field for U.S. manufacturers, driving demand for cleaner, U.S.-made products and holding the worst global environmental actors accountable,” said CEC. “The Cleaner Economy Coalition looks forward to working with Senator Cassidy and other policymakers to advance a foreign pollution fee.”
By any measure, 2024 was one of the most successful in the Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management’s (FECM’s) history.
We made enormous progress toward addressing and reducing methane emissions in the oil and gas industry to meet our environmental responsibilities and ensure that U.S. natural gas can compete in a rapidly changing global marketplace.
We accelerated carbon capture, removal, utilization, and storage technologies, and laid the groundwork for a strengthened and expanded carbon dioxide (CO2) transport and storage infrastructure.
We made real and impressive strides toward establishing a secure domestic supply chain for the critical minerals and materials that will be required in a 21st Century economy.
We advanced pathways to clean hydrogen deployment through fuel cell technology, as well as electrolysis and biomass, waste, and fossil resources coupled to carbon capture, utilization, and storage.
And we expanded meaningful engagement and strengthened relationships with communities, Tribes, industry, and other stakeholders to not only ensure the success of our projects but also to help drive economic development, technological innovation, and the growth of high-wage jobs across America.
Our 2024 successes would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of the people who make up FECM. We are thankful for our leadership and our team at Headquarters and at the National Energy Technology Laboratory for their continued amazing work—and for their professionalism and commitment.
As we look toward 2025, we remain committed to carrying out our work for the American people.
Year in Review Highlights
Here are a few prominent examples of FECM investing in technologies to minimize the environmental and climate impacts of fossil fuel and industrial processes:
DOE collaborated with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to award $850 million to 43 projects that will help small oil and gas operators, Tribes, and other entities across the country to reduce, monitor, measure, and quantify methane emissions from the oil and gas sector as part of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda.
With funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, FECM awarded $518 million to strengthen the nation’s infrastructure for permanent, safe storage of CO2. The 23 selected projects across 19 states support the Carbon Storage Assurance Facility Enterprise (CarbonSAFE) Initiative.
FECM announced $75 million to establish a Critical Materials Supply Chain Research Facility to support on-going government initiatives, such as the Critical Materials Collaborative and Critical Materials Innovation Hub, along with the overall DOE-wide critical mineral and material goals of diversifying and expanding supply, developing alternatives, improving efficiencies across the supply chain, and enabling a circular economy.
FECM invested $45 million into six projects to create regional consortia focused on securing domestic critical minerals and materials. The selected projects will build on DOE’s Carbon Ore, Rare Earth and Critical Minerals (CORE-CM) Initiative, expanding the focus from the basin scale to cover eight regions across the nation.
FECM along with DOE’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office invested more than $58.5 million into 11 projects that aim to support Carbon Negative Shot’s objectives through integrated pilot-scale testing of advanced technologies and detailed monitoring, reporting, and verification protocols. Carbon Negative Shot is the U.S. government’s first major carbon dioxide removal effort and part of DOE’s larger Energy Earthshots Initiative.
FECM invested $44.5 million into nine university and industry-led project teams that will serve as regional partners to advance commercial-scale carbon capture, transport, and storage across the United States. The Regional Initiative for Technical Assistance Partnerships will accelerate the understanding of specific geologic basins to enable the permanent storage of CO2 emissions from industrial operations and power plants, as well as legacy emissions in the atmosphere.
FECM announced four research and development projects that will receive nearly $32 million to advance technologies to help reduce natural gas flaring at oil production sites, a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions, by transforming gas into valuable products that would otherwise be wasted by those operations. These projects support the U.S. Methane Emissions Reduction Action Plan, which launched a whole-of-government initiative to redouble efforts to significantly reduce methane emissions while protecting workers and communities, growing jobs, and promoting U.S. technology innovation.
FECM also formed new working groups and initiatives to strengthen stakeholder engagement:
After requesting, receiving, and incorporating feedback from climate, environmental justice, community, labor organizations, and carbon management sector leaders, along with guidance from other DOE offices, FECM released principles to help developers deploy successful carbon management projects that reduce pollution, create high-quality jobs, and improve transparency and accountability under the Responsible Carbon Management Initiative.
The International Measurement, Monitoring, Reporting, and Verification Working Group released a framework for the measurement, monitoring, reporting, and verification of methane, carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gas emissions to drive continuous reductions in emissions across the global natural gas market.
The Tribal Fossil Energy and Carbon Management Working Groupwas formed to provide ongoing advice and expertise to DOE on the best ways to assist Tribal decarbonization efforts and utilization of their natural resources.
DOE and the White House Council on Environmental Quality held the first meeting of two federal Permitting Task Forces to help address the efficient, orderly, and responsible development of CO2 pipelines and related carbon capture and storage projects. This includes projects on both private and federal lands and of those that cross federal, state and tribal boundaries.
And with support from various DOE offices, we released the Carbon Management Strategy for public comment to provide a comprehensive roadmap for the remainder of the decade.
We hope you enjoyed reading this highlight of FECM’s accomplishments over the past year. To keep up to date with future announcements, blogs, and more, sign up for news alerts and follow us on X, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Source: United Kingdom – Executive Government & Departments
Press release
Science Secretary hails Wrightbus as company pledges £25 million to bolster UK’s green transport revolution and drive growth
Northern Ireland based bus manufacturer pledges £25 million to expand its R&D capabilities
Wrightbus pledges £25 million for R&D into green transport revolution
Northern Ireland based firm Wrightbus to invest £25 million for cutting-edge research to develop next-generation electric and hydrogen vehicles
Investment to be transformative in cutting emissions and creating skilled local jobs to grow our economy, supporting the government’s Plan for Change
The success of Wrightbus shows how bold investment in Research and Development pays off – with the Science Secretary calling it a prime example of the benefits innovation can bring to businesses and the wider economy
Millions of pounds in investment by Wrightbus to develop the next generation of green buses has been welcomed today by Science Secretary Peter Kyle, highlighting it as a key driver of economic growth under the Plan for Change.
As the UK’s fastest-growing zero-emission bus manufacturer and a major employer in Northern Ireland and the wider UK, Wrightbus’ new funding will accelerate the next generation of electric and hydrogen-powered buses, potentially creating dozens of new jobs, slashing emissions, and supporting the government’s mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower.
During his visit to the company’s Northern Ireland headquarters, Science Secretary Peter Kyle praised Wrightbus as a standout example of how investing in R&D fuels business development, job creation and regional economic growth. Studies show that for every £1 a business invests in R&D, it can generate a return of 20% for the firm – with similar, additional gains spilling over into the wider British economy (1) – evidence of a dynamic economy rooted in enterprise. He called on more businesses to follow suit, emphasising that such investments are crucial for maintaining the UK’s competitive edge in science and technology and that government alone cannot deliver this growth.
Wrightbus is part of a growing network of high-tech businesses and innovators driving growth in Northern Ireland. The region boasts a thriving advanced manufacturing sector and a rapidly expanding tech scene. One such example is Belfast-based Ionic Technologies, which is developing new ways to recycle rare materials needed for electric vehicles and wind turbines, helping to make green technologies more sustainable and less reliant on overseas supply chains.
The government’s upcoming Industrial Strategy, set to be published this summer, will build on success stories like Wrightbus and make Britain the best country to do business – helping more firms lead the way in future industries like advanced manufacturing, clean transport, and clean energy.
This investment follows government action to increase demand for electric vehicles, with £2.3 billion investment already boosting British manufacturing and improving charging infrastructure.
Since July, the government has seen £34.8 billion of private investment announced into UK’s clean energy industries. The UK was the largest electric vehicle market in Europe in 2024 and the third in the world with over 382,000 sold – up a fifth on the previous year. There are now more than 75,000 public charge points in the UK – with one added every 29 minutes – ensuring that motorists are always a short drive from a socket.
Science and Technology Secretary, Peter Kyle said:
Investing in innovation is central to our Plan for Change, but public investment alone is not enough to ensure British businesses remain at the cutting edge of global industries.
Wrightbus is proof that businesses backing R&D deliver real-world impact – for both the company themselves and the local region – creating new high-quality jobs, strengthening supply chains across sectors and delivering the new industries of the future.
Wrightbus’ investment will not only boost growth in Northern Ireland. It will help to accelerate the UK’s transition to net zero and our mission to become a clean energy superpower while keeping our economy competitive on the global stage.
The £25 million investment announced today will be used to develop groundbreaking zero-emission vehicles, support UK businesses that provide the parts and technology needed to build them and enhance advanced testing capabilities. Funding includes:
£10 million to develop the world’s most efficient double-deck and single-deck electric bus, the Wrightbus StreetDeck Electroliner. Designed for extended range and rapid charging times, it can travel up to 200 miles on a single charge and recharge in just 2.5 hours, cutting energy costs and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
£5 million to develop the UK’s first hydrogen-powered coach due for release within 18 months. Capable of travelling up to 1,000km on a single refuel, it will rival diesel coaches in range and efficiency and make long-distance travel greener without compromising on performance or convenience.
£5 million for product validation using the UK’s most advanced proving grounds – ensuring Wrightbus vehicles are rigorously tested for durability, efficiency, and safety so that UK-manufactured buses set new global standards for reliability and performance.
£5 million for a world-class telematics system – an advanced vehicle monitoring system that collects real-time performance data to operators. The telematics system is improving efficiency, lowering costs, helping fleet operators optimise routes, extending vehicle lifespans and driving down operating expenses using predictive maintenance based on AI algorithms.
Last week, Wrightbus buses passed 50 million zero-emission miles – preventing over 85,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions compared to diesel alternatives. The company’s rapid growth underscores the UK’s strength in high-tech manufacturing and the economic benefits of investing in green innovation. Wrightbus is also a potential customer of the Bradford Low Carbon Project, which received funding from the government’s flagship hydrogen programme.
The Ballymena-based company had a record-breaking year of orders in 2024 which it is on track to exceed this year, increasing production from 1,016 to 1,200 with plans to reach 1,400 by 2026. Its supply chain supports businesses in 47 counties, from suppliers of heating systems to software developers across the UK and in key European markets, including France, Germany, and the Netherlands.
It builds on its landmark £500 million deal with Go-Ahead in 2023 which secured over 1,000 zero-emission bus orders, creating 500 new jobs in Ballymena and supporting 7,500 jobs across the UK – strengthening the UK’s position as among the best places in the world to invest in R&D with businesses like Wrightbus leading the way in green transport innovation.
Wrightbus CEO, Jean-Marc Gales said:
It was a pleasure to showcase our R&D progress to the Secretary of State. This investment represents our largest amount ever into research and development and it underlines our ambition to continue be one of the very best zero-emission manufacturers in the UK and Europe.
Innovation has played a key part in the rapid growth of Wrightbus and is one of the major things that has allowed us to switch from having a 95% diesel bus output to a 95% zero emission bus output in less than 5 years.
The research projects we’re currently funding, including the development of our hydrogen coach, the further enhancement of the world-leading Electroliner bus, and our telematics system, will allow us to continue to push zero-emission transport boundaries and represents a huge boost for manufacturing in Northern Ireland and the wider UK.
[. From heating and cooling homes to powering communities and businesses, Albertans need to know they have access to affordable utilities they can depend on, when and where they need them.
Bill 52, the Energy and Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, proposes changes to meet growing demand, prioritizing reliability and affordability in the modernization of the utility system. If passed, the Energy and Utilities Statutes Amendment Act will enable hydrogen use in Alberta’s natural gas system. It will also support critical updates to power market rules and transmission policies to strengthen the power grid, lower and stabilize utility bills, and encourage investment in the province.
“Albertans need to know they have reliable and affordable utilities to provide for their families and chase their dreams. From responsibly introducing hydrogen blending in our natural gas system to strengthening our power grid, the changes we’re making will drive new investment and fuel Albertans to pursue a bright, successful future.”
“We’re shaping a utility system built to last by preserving investment, innovation and open competition while tackling volatile prices and grid stability so Alberta’s energy future is resilient and full of opportunity.”
Driving innovation in hydrogen
The world is looking to hydrogen as an energy solution for hard-to-abate industries. As the largest hydrogen producer in Canada, Alberta has the resources, expertise and investment-ready environment necessary to be a destination of choice for investors and innovators. Through the Energy and Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, proposed amendments would allow hydrogen blending in the natural gas distribution system for residential and commercial heating and support new technologies while ensuring the safety and reliability of the natural gas system.
Changes will protect ratepayers from rising costs by ensuring only those who receive hydrogen-blended natural gas in their homes and businesses will pay for any additional system costs. Utility providers will also be required to ensure community support on hydrogen blending projects.
Strengthening the grid, protecting ratepayers
Albertans increasingly rely on electricity to power their homes, businesses and lives. The Energy and Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025, if passed, will put Albertans first by advancing the modernization of the electricity market to ensure it can meet their growing needs, at a price they can afford.
Proposed amendments support the move to a day-ahead reliability market, ensure there is enough power available and reduce the risk of grid alerts in the future. Much-needed updates will also be made to Alberta’s transmission policies to protect ratepayers from rising transmission costs on their utility bills. This includes encouraging more efficient use of existing infrastructure by maximizing the use of existing lines and ensuring new power projects are built in optimal locations. Changes will also see costs assigned on a cost-causation basis, ensuring that Albertans are not burdened with the full cost of any new transmission lines that need to be built.
Additional legislative changes
The Energy andUtilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025 also includes an amendment to the Petroleum Marketing Act to increase the number of directors on the Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission board from seven to 13 to increase the range of expertise and allow for more robust governance. This will also increase support for new initiatives such as the bitumen royalty in-kind and a proposed gas royalty in-kind, ensuring Albertans receive the maximum value for our resources.
Quick facts:
By 2050, hydrogen is expected to be an $11-trillion industry worldwide.
Implementation of the Restructured Energy Market is expected to begin in 2027.
Related information
Transforming the utilities system
Bill 52: Energy and Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Stakeholder Quotes – Energy and Utilities Statutes Amendment Act, 2025
Hydrogen Roadmap
Alberta Electric System Operator
Market Surveillance Administrator
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Have we ever been to Uranus? The answer is simple, yes, but only once. The Voyager II spacecraft flew by the planet Uranus back in 1986, during a golden era when the Voyager spacecraft explored all four giant planets of our solar system. It revealed an extreme world, a planet that had been bowled over onto its side by some extreme cataclysm early in the formation of the solar system. That means that its seasons and its magnetic field get exposed to the most dramatic seasonal variability of any place that we know of in the solar system. The atmosphere was a churning system made of methane and hydrogen and water, with methane clouds showing up as white against the bluer background of the planet itself. The densely packed ring system is host to a number of very fine, narrow and dusty rings surrounded by a collection of icy satellites. And those satellites may harbor deep, dark, hidden oceans beneath an icy crust of water ice. Taken together, this extreme and exciting system is somewhere that we simply must go back to explore and hopefully in the next one to two decades NASA and the European Space Agency will mount an ambitious mission to go out there and explore the Uranian system. It’s important not just for solar system science, but also for the growing field of exoplanet science. As planets of this particular size, the size of Uranus, about four times wider than planet Earth, seem to be commonplace throughout our galaxy. So how have we been to Uranus? Yes, but it’s time that we went back. [END VIDEO TRANSCRIPT] Full Episode List Full YouTube Playlist
Observations from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope have provided a surprising twist in the narrative surrounding what is believed to be the first star observed in the act of swallowing a planet. The new findings suggest that the star actually did not swell to envelop a planet as previously hypothesized. Instead, Webb’s observations show the planet’s orbit shrank over time, slowly bringing the planet closer to its demise until it was engulfed in full. “Because this is such a novel event, we didn’t quite know what to expect when we decided to point this telescope in its direction,” said Ryan Lau, lead author of the new paper and astronomer at NSF NOIRLab (National Science Foundation National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory) in Tuscon, Arizona. “With its high-resolution look in the infrared, we are learning valuable insights about the final fates of planetary systems, possibly including our own.” Two instruments aboard Webb conducted the post-mortem of the scene – Webb’s MIRI (Mid-Infrared Instrument) and NIRSpec (Near-Infrared Spectrograph). The researchers were able to come to their conclusion using a two-pronged investigative approach.
The star at the center of this scene is located in the Milky Way galaxy about 12,000 light-years away from Earth. The brightening event, formally called ZTF SLRN-2020, was originally spotted as a flash of optical light using the Zwicky Transient Facility at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego, California. Data from NASA’s NEOWISE (Near-Earth Object Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer) showed the star actually brightened in the infrared a year before the optical light flash, hinting at the presence of dust. This initial 2023 investigation led researchers to believe that the star was more Sun-like, and had been in the process of aging into a red giant over hundreds of thousands of years, slowly expanding as it exhausted its hydrogen fuel. However, Webb’s MIRI told a different story. With powerful sensitivity and spatial resolution, Webb was able to precisely measure the hidden emission from the star and its immediate surroundings, which lie in a very crowded region of space. The researchers found the star was not as bright as it should have been if it had evolved into a red giant, indicating there was no swelling to engulf the planet as once thought.
Researchers suggest that, at one point, the planet was about Jupiter-sized, but orbited quite close to the star, even closer than Mercury’s orbit around our Sun. Over millions of years, the planet orbited closer and closer to the star, leading to the catastrophic consequence. “The planet eventually started to graze the star’s atmosphere. Then it was a runaway process of falling in faster from that moment,” said team member Morgan MacLeod of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. “The planet, as it’s falling in, started to sort of smear around the star.” In its final splashdown, the planet would have blasted gas away from the outer layers of the star. As it expanded and cooled off, the heavy elements in this gas condensed into cold dust over the next year.
While the researchers did expect an expanding cloud of cooler dust around the star, a look with the powerful NIRSpec revealed a hot circumstellar disk of molecular gas closer in. Furthermore, Webb’s high spectral resolution was able to detect certain molecules in this accretion disk, including carbon monoxide. “With such a transformative telescope like Webb, it was hard for me to have any expectations of what we’d find in the immediate surroundings of the star,” said Colette Salyk of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, an exoplanet researcher and co-author on the new paper. “I will say, I could not have expected seeing what has the characteristics of a planet-forming region, even though planets are not forming here, in the aftermath of an engulfment.” The ability to characterize this gas opens more questions for researchers about what actually happened once the planet was fully swallowed by the star. “This is truly the precipice of studying these events. This is the only one we’ve observed in action, and this is the best detection of the aftermath after things have settled back down,” Lau said. “We hope this is just the start of our sample.” These observations, taken under Guaranteed Time Observation program 1240, which was specifically designed to investigate a family of mysterious, sudden, infrared brightening events, were among the first Target of Opportunity programs performed by Webb. These types of study are reserved for events, like supernova explosions, that are expected to occur, but researchers don’t exactly know when or where. NASA’s space telescopes are part of a growing, international network that stands ready to witness these fleeting changes, to help us understand how the universe works. Researchers expect to add to their sample and identify future events like this using the upcoming Vera C. Rubin Observatory and NASA’s Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope, which will survey large areas of the sky repeatedly to look for changes over time. The team’s findings appear today in The Astrophysical Journal. The James Webb Space Telescope is the world’s premier space science observatory. Webb is solving mysteries in our solar system, looking beyond to distant worlds around other stars, and probing the mysterious structures and origins of our universe and our place in it. Webb is an international program led by NASA with its partners, ESA (European Space Agency) and CSA (Canadian Space Agency). To learn more about Webb, visit: https://science.nasa.gov/webb Downloads Click any image to open a larger version. View/Download all image products at all resolutions for this article from the Space Telescope Science Institute. View/Download the science paper from the The Astrophysical Journal.
Laura Betz – laura.e.betz@nasa.govNASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. Hannah Braun – hbraun@stsci.eduSpace Telescope Science Institute, Baltimore, Md.
Read more about Webb’s impact on exoplanet research Video: How to Study Exoplanets Learn more about exoplanets More Webb News More Webb Images Webb Science Themes Webb Mission Page
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The diversity of rock types along the rim of Jezero Crater offers a wide glimpse of Martian history. Scientists with NASA’s Perseverance rover are exploring what they consider a veritable Martian cornucopia full of intriguing rocky outcrops on the rim of Jezero Crater. Studying rocks, boulders, and outcrops helps scientists understand the planet’s history, evolution, and potential for past or present habitability. Since January, the rover has cored five rocks on the rim, sealing samples from three of them in sample tubes. It’s also performed up-close analysis of seven rocks and analyzed another 83 from afar by zapping them with a laser. This is the mission’s fastest science-collection tempo since the rover landed on the Red Planet more than four years ago. Perseverance climbed the western wall of Jezero Crater for 3½ months, reaching the rim on Dec. 12, 2024, and is currently exploring a roughly 445-foot-tall (135-meter-tall) slope the science team calls “Witch Hazel Hill.” The diversity of rocks they have found there has gone beyond their expectations. “During previous science campaigns in Jezero, it could take several months to find a rock that was significantly different from the last rock we sampled and scientifically unique enough for sampling,” said Perseverance’s project scientist, Katie Stack Morgan of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. “But up here on the crater rim, there are new and intriguing rocks everywhere the rover turns. It has been all we had hoped for and more.”
That’s because Jezero Crater’s western rim contains tons of fragmented once-molten rocks that were knocked out of their subterranean home billions of years ago by one or more meteor impacts, including possibly the one that produced Jezero Crater. Perseverance is finding these formerly underground boulders juxtaposed with well-preserved layered rocks that were “born” billions of years ago on what would become the crater’s rim. And just a short drive away is a boulder showing signs that it was modified by water nestled beside one that saw little water in its past. Oldest Sample Yet? Perseverance collected its first crater-rim rock sample, named “Silver Mountain,” on Jan. 28. (NASA scientists informally nickname Martian features, including rocks and, separately, rock samples, to help keep track of them.) The rock it came from, called “Shallow Bay,” most likely formed at least 3.9 billion years ago during Mars’ earliest geologic period, the Noachian, and it may have been broken up and recrystallized during an ancient meteor impact. About 360 feet (110 meters) away from that sampling site is an outcrop that caught the science team’s eye because it contains igneous minerals crystallized from magma deep in the Martian crust. (Igneous rocks can form deep underground from magma or from volcanic activity at the surface, and they are excellent record-keepers — particularly because mineral crystals within them preserve details about the precise moment they formed.) But after two coring attempts (on Feb. 4 and Feb. 8) fizzled due to the rock being so crumbly, the rover drove about 520 feet (160 meters) northwest to another scientifically intriguing rock, dubbed “Tablelands.” Data from the rover’s instruments indicates that Tablelands is made almost entirely of serpentine minerals, which form when large amounts of water react with iron- and magnesium-bearing minerals in igneous rock. During this process, called serpentinization, the rock’s original structure and mineralogy change, often causing it to expand and fracture. Byproducts of the process sometimes include hydrogen gas, which can lead to the generation of methane in the presence of carbon dioxide. On Earth, such rocks can support microbial communities. Coring Tablelands went smoothly. But sealing it became an engineering challenge.
Flick Maneuver “This happened once before, when there was enough powdered rock at the top of the tube that it interfered with getting a perfect seal,” said Kyle Kaplan, a robotics engineer at JPL. “For Tablelands, we pulled out all the stops. Over 13 sols,” or Martian days, “we used a tool to brush out the top of the tube 33 times and made eight sealing attempts. We even flicked it a second time.” During a flick maneuver, the sample handling arm — a little robotic arm in the rover’s belly — presses the tube against a wall inside the rover, then pulls the tube away, causing it to vibrate. On March 2, the combination of flicks and brushings cleaned the tube’s top opening enough for Perseverance to seal and store the serpentine-laden rock sample. Eight days later, the rover had no issues sealing its third rim sample, from a rock called “Main River.” The alternating bright and dark bands on the rock were like nothing the science team had seen before. Up Next Following the collection of the Main River sample, the rover has continued exploring Witch Hazel Hill, analyzing three more rocky outcrops (“Sally’s Cove,” “Dennis Pond,” and “Mount Pearl”). And the team isn’t done yet. “The last four months have been a whirlwind for the science team, and we still feel that Witch Hazel Hill has more to tell us,” said Stack. “We’ll use all the rover data gathered recently to decide if and where to collect the next sample from the crater rim. Crater rims — you gotta love ’em.” More About Perseverance A key objective for Perseverance’s mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover is characterizing the planet’s geology and past climate, to help pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet and is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith. NASA’s Mars Sample Return Program, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), is designed to send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis. The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program portfolio and the agency’s Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. For more about Perseverance:
Mars 2020: Perseverance Rover
News Media Contacts DC AgleJet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.818-393-9011agle@jpl.nasa.gov Karen Fox / Molly WasserNASA Headquarters, Washington202-358-1600karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov 2025-051
Union Minister Pralhad Joshi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Review PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar Schemes, Emphasize on Effective Implementation,Uttar Pradesh Reaffirms Commitment to Achieve 22 GW Solar Energy Capacity Target Union Minister Inspects Wheat Procurement Centre at Mohanlalganj Mandi, Engages with Farmers to Assess Benefits of Welfare Schemes
“The Prime Minister’s vision is to make farmers energy self-reliant and promote low-cost farming,” : Shri Pralhad Joshi
Posted On: 10 APR 2025 7:22PM by PIB Delhi
Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and New and Renewable Energy, Shri Pralhad Joshi today held a review meeting in Lucknow with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to assess the progress of wheat procurement, PM-KUSUM, and PM Surya Ghar schemes. The meeting was also attended by Uttar Pradesh Energy Minister Shri A.K. Sharma and Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India, Smt. Nidhi Khare.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed his gratitude and said, “I thank Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi for taking time out of his busy schedule to ensure the effective ground-level implementation of these ambitious schemes that benefit farmers and citizens from low- and middle-income groups.”
Visited Village Duggaur, Lucknow and saw how farmers are benefiting from PM-KUSUM. The scheme empowers them with solar-powered irrigation, enhances rural livelihoods and promotes clean, #sustainableenergy in agriculture—a strong step towards a green Bharat.#RenewableEnergypic.twitter.com/GDJqhY5C4w
During the meeting, Uttar Pradesh reaffirmed its commitment to achieving the ambitious target of 22 GW solar energy capacity of the state. Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi acknowledged the state’s leading role in the effective implementation of flagship central schemes like PM-KUSUM and PM Surya Ghar. He stated that “Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi envisions maximum benefit to farmers through these initiatives. Under PM-KUSUM, farmers are no longer solely dependent on conventional electricity and are instead using clean and affordable solar energy for agriculture.” He added that the Central Government provides up to 90% subsidy under this scheme, enabling farmers to adopt solar systems at significantly lower costs.
Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi also visited Duggaur village in Bakshi Ka Talab tehsil of Lucknow to inspect a solar pump project established under PM-KUSUM C-1 scheme. Local resident Mohammad Ahsan Ali Khan has installed an 11.2 kW on-grid solar power plant for his private 7.5 HP irrigation pump. The total cost of the project is ₹6,23,909, of which ₹1,87,173 was provided as central subsidy, ₹3,74,345 as state subsidy, and only ₹62,391 was contributed by the beneficiary.
Since installation, the solar plant has generated a total of 8,945 kWh of electricity, out of which 7,100 kWh has been exported to the grid, while 1,845 kWh has been used for irrigation. This has not only given Ahsan energy independence but also enabled him to earn additional income by selling surplus power to the grid. This project stands as an inspiring model for other farmers to adopt sustainable and income-generating agricultural practices through solar energy.
Energy Minister of Uttar Pradesh Shri A. K Sharma thanked Union Minister for New and Renewable Energy Shri Pralhad Joshi for handholding Uttar Pradesh and providing an allocation of 3.7 lakh pump allocation under the PM-KUSUM Scheme (Component C – Feeder Level Solarization).
Union Minister Shri Pralhad Joshi visited the wheat procurement center at Mohanlalganj Mandi in Lucknow, where he observed the process of wheat procurement, cleaning, and weighing being carried out through the e-POP (Electronic Point of Procurement) machine. During his interaction with farmers, he learned how the use of this technology by the central and state governments has made the process of selling their produce more transparent, efficient, and convenient. The farmers shared that with the introduction of e-POP, weighing has become accurate, and payments are being processed quickly, enhancing their confidence in the government’s procurement system.
In Village Duggaur, Lucknow visited @PMSuryaGhar beneficiary homes and interacted with the new age power producers. Under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi ji, this scheme is bringing clean energy to rural homes, ensuring savings, sustainability and… pic.twitter.com/dFfzdoWKEZ
India’s Renewable Energy Capacity Achieves Historic Growth in FY 2024-25 Total Installed RE Capacity Reaches 220.10 GW with a Record Addition of 30 GW
Solar at 106 GW; Wind Power Crosses 50 GW Milestone
Posted On: 10 APR 2025 6:15PM by PIB Delhi
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) has reported robust progress in India’s clean energy sector for the Financial Year 2024–25. With a record annual capacity addition of 29.52 GW, the total installed renewable energy (RE) capacity in the country has reached 220.10 GW as of 31st March 2025, up from 198.75 GW in the previous fiscal. This performance reflects India’s steady advancement towards the target of achieving 500 GW of non-fossil fuel-based capacity by 2030, as part of its commitments under the ‘Panchamrit’ goals set by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.
Solar Energy Drives Growth
Solar energy contributed the most to the year’s capacity expansion, with 23.83 GW added in FY 2024–25, a significant increase over the 15.03 GW added in the previous year. The total installed solar capacity now stands at 105.65 GW. This includes 81.01 GW from ground-mounted installations, 17.02 GW from rooftop solar, 2.87 GW from solar components of hybrid projects, and 4.74 GW from off-grid systems. The growth demonstrates continued uptake of solar energy across utility-scale and distributed categories.
Steady Rise in Wind Installations
Wind energy also witnessed sustained progress during the year, with 4.15 GW of new capacity added, compared to 3.25 GW in FY 2023–24. The total cumulative installed wind capacity now stands at 50.04 GW, reinforcing wind energy’s role in India’s renewable energy mix.
Bioenergy and Small Hydro Power Maintain Momentum
Bioenergy installations reached a total capacity of 11.58 GW, which includes 0.53 GW from off-grid and waste-to-energy projects. Small Hydro Power projects have achieved a capacity of 5.10 GW, with a further 0.44 GW under implementation. These sectors continue to complement the solar and wind segments by contributing to the decentralised and diversified nature of India’s energy landscape.
Expanding Pipeline of Clean Energy Projects
In addition to the installed capacities, India has 169.40 GW of renewable energy projects under implementation and 65.06 GW already tendered. This includes 65.29 GW from emerging solutions such as hybrid systems, round-the-clock (RTC) power, peaking power, and thermal + RE bundling projects. These initiatives represent a strategic shift towards ensuring grid stability and reliable supply from renewable sources.
MNRE under Union Minister of New and Renewable Energy Shri Pralhad Joshi has been taking various key initiatives to achieve Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi’s vision of 500 GW of renewable energy by 2030. The continued growth reflects India’s commitment to its climate goals and energy security, underscoring the Government’s focused efforts to scale up renewable energy deployment across the country.
As trade threats escalate, Alberta is taking decisive action to secure new global markets, driving diversification and growth to protect the province’s economic future. Alberta is broadening its trade horizons – to reduce risk and build a more resilient economy, ready to weather any storm.
Despite U.S. tariffs, Alberta’s economy is outperforming expectations, driven by its robust oil production, increased home construction and a diversified economic base.
Alberta’s economy is built to last, anchored by three powerful pillars – diversifying trade, breaking down barriers and attracting investment. Together, they are driving future success for an economy that leads and outperforms.
“During challenging economic times, Alberta is strengthening its economy by opening new global markets, eliminating trade barriers, and securing investments that generate jobs and ensure sustained growth.”
Unlocking Global Trade
As the U.S. continues to introduce new barriers to trade, Alberta is focused on expanding its economic pathways elsewhere, such as in Europe, Asia and the Americas.
In 2024, Alberta’s total trade with non-U.S. countries totalled almost $36 billion, an increase of 10 per cent over 2023. Alberta’s government will continue investing in this growth for the future. Between 2023 and 2024, Central Asia, South and East Asia, South America and Europe all increased the amount of goods they are buying from Alberta. This proves the world relies on Alberta’s high-quality goods and products. Alberta’s top-tier export performance fuels economic growth, creates high-paying jobs and enhances Canada’s global competitiveness, benefiting all Canadians.
“Expanding our markets is critical to the future of oil and gas in Alberta and we are actively working towards this. The Alberta Petroleum Marketing Commission is exploring selling our oil and gas throughout Asia and Europe. Countries like Japan and Korea view our natural gas, hydrogen and ammonia as key to their future economies and transitioning from thermal coal.”
Alberta also doubled the 2025-26 budget for the Alberta Export Expansion Program, funding small- and medium-sized businesses and non-profits to promote their products globally. In 2024-25, the program helped more than 450 Alberta companies and organizations join 28 government-led trade missions to countries like Argentina, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Japan, United Kingdom, Indonesia, Philippines and Germany. In 2024-25, Alberta’s government facilitated more than 800 business-to-business meetings on trade missions that connected Alberta companies to global partners, to make substantial international deals.
Leading Interprovincial Trade
Alberta remains Canada’s leader in interprovincial trade and continues to lead the way by cutting red tape and reducing regulatory burdens, making it easier for businesses and workers to thrive across provincial borders. Since 2019, Alberta has eliminated almost 80 per cent of its party-specific exceptions under the Canadian Free Trade Agreement, unlocking smoother interprovincial trade and securing better opportunities for Albertans.
Alberta is tearing down trade barriers to boost both the province’s and Canada’s economies. In February 2025, Alberta joined counterparts across the country in endorsing bold new commitments to further reduce regulatory barriers, implement mutual recognition for goods and services and create new economic opportunities for businesses and consumers. Alberta’s government is bulldozing internal trade barriers – turning roadblocks into smooth highways for Alberta industry.
Attracting Job-Creating Investments
When investors set their sights on Alberta, it is a win-win for companies, workers and Alberta’s economy. For example, thanks to the Investment and Growth Fund (IGF), Alberta’s government has secured more than $820 million in capital, created 1,250 jobs and leveraged $25 in private investment for every $1 spent. The IGF is attracting global giants like Lufthansa Technik from Germany, which is bringing 330 new jobs and $120 million in investment, along with NewCold from the Netherlands, which is adding 250 jobs and a $222 million boost to Alberta’s economy.
“NewCold’s multi-million investment is a direct result of Alberta’s targeted approach to attracting global businesses through tools like the Investment and Growth Fund. With this support, we’re building one of the most advanced cold storage facilities in North America – right here in Alberta.”
Through strategic investment, Alberta is securing its future by diversifying export markets and expanding global partnerships, because when opportunity knocks, Alberta always answers.
Alberta’s plan goes beyond braving changing trade-winds – it is about driving economic growth with a strategy built to endure any storm. By diversifying its international trade partners, tearing down barriers to internal trade and bringing in substantial investments, Alberta’s government is forging ahead on a path to an economically unstoppable future.
Quick facts
Alberta’s exports to international markets in 2024 saw a 4.3 per cent increase year-over-year, with a total value of $182 billion.
Despite representing less than 12 per cent of Canada’s population, Alberta ranks second in exports nationwide, accounting for more than 25 per cent of the country’s total exports.
In 2024, Alberta exports, imports, and total trade with non-U.S. countries totalled $20.7 billion, $15.1 billion, and $35.8 billion, respectively.
Between 2023 and 2024, Alberta’s exports to Central Asia increased by 42.8 per cent, Southeast Asia increased by 41.4 per cent, South Asia increased by 39.9 per cent, East Asia increased by 15.9 per cent to $11.2 billion, Europe increased to $2.2 billion and South America increased by 6.1 per cent to $1.4 billion.
Alberta’s government has doubled the Alberta Export Expansion funding from $1 million to $2 million to support more businesses in their efforts to expand into global markets.
Recently, the IGF provided $2 million to Crust Craft, a high-capacity bakery company, to support its $51-million expansion in Alberta.
In this case, Alberta was competing with a U.S. jurisdiction for Crust Craft’s expansion.
Source: United States House of Representatives – Congresswoman Doris Matsui (D-CA)
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congresswoman Doris Matsui, Co-Chair ofHouse Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC), along with Co-Chairs Reps. Mike Quigley, and Paul Tonko and Vice Chairs Reps. Don Beyer, Suzanne Bonamici, Sean Casten, Mike Levin, and Chellie Pingree, along with Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, led a bicameral letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin calling out his wholesale assault on the central mission of the agency he was appointed to lead. They were joined by Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries, bringing the total to 180 Members of Congress calling on Administrator Zeldin to halt his egregious attacks.
“In just two months as EPA Administrator, you have demonstrated a complete disregard for the central mission of the agency you were appointed to lead. Instead of protecting the environment – as the agency name directs – you are protecting the special interests of big polluters,” wrote the 180 Members. “We urge you to halt your egregious attacks on the public health and well-being of the American people.”
They pointed out that, as a result of the Trump EPA repealing and gutting critical environmental and public health protections, communities and families will pay higher health costs and be exposed to more mercury and air toxics from coal-fired power plants and more polluted wastewater from oil and gas producers.
“While countries around the world are clamoring for cleaner, cheaper, and more innovative technologies, you are actively hamstringing America’s homegrown clean energy industry, which has already injected $422 billion and 400,000 jobs into our economy in just the past two and a half years,” the lawmakers wrote to Administrator Zeldin. “This is anything but unleashing American energy. At the same time, instead of lowering costs for American families, your actions will result in the opposite. Americans’ medical expenses will increase because your Polluters First agenda will allow particulate matter and other hazardous air pollution to go unchecked.”
Their letter explained that for every $1 the country spends to reduce air pollution, it is estimated to yield $30 in economic benefits in return. Yet, the Trump EPA is choosing to unleash more air pollutants that are linked to Alzheimer’s, miscarriages, and childhood asthma, as well as other public health concerns.
“Your actions will needlessly increase American families’ exposure to the pollution that can make them sick and stick them with the bill for their care,” concluded Members.
The full letter can be found here.
Background
On March 12, Administrator Zeldin announced the “biggest deregulatory action in U.S. history,” which included rolling back 31 environmental rules and regulations. This list of actions directly threatens Americans’ health and fundamental right to clean air and water by:
Rolling back National Ambient Air Quality Standards for particulate matter – some of the most dangerous air pollution known to directly cause asthma and other health issues;
Gutting EPA rules that prevent hazardous metals like mercury and arsenic from ending up in our water supply;
Reconsidering national emissions standards for cancer-causing hazardous air pollutants, including ethylene oxide;
Ending the “Good Neighbor” rule, which simply acknowledged that pollution does not respect state lines and that downwind states should not be burdened by their neighbors’ pollution;
Repealing power plant emissions standards, allowing existing gas and coal-fired power plants to pump unlimited climate pollution into our air; and
Revoking the landmark “Endangerment Finding” that simply states climate-changing pollutants are dangerous to human health, and which serves as the foundation for climate pollution to be regulated under the Clean Air Act.
